


Vehicons Unmasked 3

by lizwuzthere



Series: Season 2 AU [6]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: M/M, Racism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-09
Updated: 2014-11-25
Packaged: 2017-12-31 23:33:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1037709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizwuzthere/pseuds/lizwuzthere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p> </p>
  <p>    <img/></p>
</div>Immediate sequel to Vehicons Unmasked 2. The Vehicons and Insecticons do not get along, but one Vehicon doesn't quite understand why that is.
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The tension between the Vehicons and Insecticons was just _barely_ touched upon in canon, but I think the extent of the division between them and the resulting racism needed to be further explored. So that's what this fic is about.  
>  This one will also be multi-chapter, unlike the previous Unmasked stories.  
> OH, and I feel like I should mention that the character of Rodrigo and him being paired with Hardshell was pretty much spawned from [Tumblr user Crashboombanger's](http://crashboombanger.tumblr.com/) Vehicon/Insecticon audio recording and the ensuing jokes.
> 
> Also, I encourage you to take a peek at my [Handy Dandy Vehicon Organization Headcanon Post](http://lizwuzthere.tumblr.com/post/37019561808/cut-below-for-long-winded-vehicon-organization) to familiarize yourself with the system used here… It’s not super necessary but it might make it more enjoyable.  
> That’s all- enjoy!

“Hey, _Rodrigo_! How's it hummin?”

Rodrigo wasn't quite sure if TC-09 was mocking him or not, so he just shrugged and waved as she passed. Once she’d gone by he let out a quiet vent.

Well, the whole _secret_ thing sure hadn't lasted long. Steve wasn't going to be happy. Honestly though, what did he expect? Everyone knew Rodrigo couldn't keep a secret- but hey, he'd lasted almost a whole week! That had to count for something.

Besides, breaking his promise wasn't _that_ big of a deal. So what if everyone knew they'd given each other human names? There wasn't any real harm done.

Rodrigo continued through the hallway, trailing behind a few of his squadmates as they headed to the canteens. He wondered how many of them already knew. Word could spread pretty fast among the ranks. It was only a matter of time before word got back around to Steve and Wendy that-

“RD-10!!”

Rodrigo froze as he heard his official designation being called out. He looked back around and saw Steve was stomping up the corridor towards him. His mask was covering his expression but obviously his friend was not pleased.

“Or perhaps I should just call you _Rodrigo_ out in the open now?” Steve continued as he approached, “Since apparently everyone already knows about the Earth names we gave ourselves.”

“Oh... _everyone_ huh?” Rodrigo mumbled, rubbing his helm.

“Yeah. _Everyone._ ” Steve insisted. “Frag I'd be surprised if AA-00 and high command didn't already know about it too!”

Rodrigo lowered his helm and shrugged his shoulders slightly, “Okay so everyone knows,” he said, turning around to keep walking. “Is it really that big of a deal? It's just a stupid game the three of us did for fun. It's not like we're hurting anything.”

“You don't get it, do you?” Steve grabbed his friend's shoulder and pulled him back around. “We could get in real trouble for this! And I don't just mean with high command. Going and ignoringthe usual rules for designation, calling ourselves _human_ names... You know not all the 'Cons are as open-minded as Wendy. They might not take very well to that.”

Rodrigo tilted his helm, lifting his digit pointedly. “But hey, you're still calling him Wendy,” he said, grinning behind his mask. “Admit it! You likeusing these names. _I_ sure do. It's fun! It'll be a relief to be able to use them out in the open, won't it?”

“No! You're missing my point!”

“I still don't think it's a big deal.” Rodrigo shrugged and started down the hall again. “It'll be fine. Nobody will care.”

Steve let out a resigned vent and stepped alongside Rodrigo and walked with him. “I hope you're right,” he grumbled.

Rodrigo glanced over at Steve just as they were approaching the entrance to the canteens. He sure did seem nervous... What if this actually _didn’t_ sit well with the others? He was used to the other 'Cons not really liking him and he didn't particularly care... but if his big, dumb mouth had gotten Steve and Wendy into trouble too... scrap. He hadn't even considered that before. It really _had_ been selfish of him to go blabbing to everyone about their names. And his friends getting in trouble because of something _he_ did... ugh. He absolutely hated seeing his friends get punished. And it was just that much worse when he knew it was his fault...

Now that he was worried for his friends, Rodrigo didn’t exactly know what to expect as they stepped into the canteen… but he sure didn’t expect to hear so many human names being called out!

“I like Reynold! That's a good name, right? It's got R and Y in it-”

“Ugh this is such slag! There's like NO human names that have a Z and an X in 'em.”

“Stephanie. Yeah I like that for you-”

“Scrap, how am I supposed to pick one? There's so many that start with S!”

“Tess? I dunno, I think you look more like a Terry.”

“No no, I like Warren much more than-”

“Does Peter have a U in it? Frag, I knew I shoulda learned to actually _read_ the language...”

Steve and Rodrigo stood dumbfounded in the entrance while other Vehicons pushed past them. After listening to the slew of names being suggested all around the room for another minute, Rodrigo finally looked to Steve. He tilted his head a bit and folded his arms across his chassis looking terribly smug. Steve met his gaze and, even with his mask on, he knew there was a smug grin spread wide across Rodrigo's face. He let out an irritated huff of air and started towards the energon dispensers.

“Don't,” he said simply.

“What?” Rodrigo practically chirped as he followed behind, a little spring in his step. “Do you mean don't point out how rightI was and how wrong you were? Why I would never-”

“Shut up!” Steve grumbled, glaring back at Rodrigo. He paused for another moment then looked away. Then suddenly looked back again. “And I _wasn't_ wrong, by the way! You still shouldn't have told everyone. There would've been trouble if they _hadn't_ liked it; you had no way of knowing that they would.”

“You worry too much about what everyone else thinks!” Rodrigo shrugged his shoulders. “Y'know it doesn't really matter, right?”

Steve turned away and stepped up to a dispenser, filling up a cube with energon. “It does though.” he said quietly. “I mean, it sucks that it does... but it _does._ ”

“Whatever.” Rodrigo grumbled. He quickly filled up his own cube and turned away, “I'm gonna go help my squadmates pick out new names. I'll see ya before first shift.”

Steve let out a resigned vent as he watched his friend go. Then he turned back around and started filling up a second cube. Someone would have to let Wendy know what happened with this whole name situation- it might as well be him.

* * *

“How come _you_ get the name Rodrigo? What if _I_ like that one? Why can't I use it?”

“Because,” Rodrigo interrupted RD-07, “I'm the one who came up with the Earth names thing in the first place! So I got to pick first.”

“I thought you said ST-03 came up with it?”

“Well, yeah. I mean _sorta_... But I was there!” Rodrigo stood in the corridor outside the main groundbridge terminal with a group from his squad: RD-07, RD-08, and RD-09. Other Vehicons were hurrying past them on their way to the start of their shift, but the four of them lingered behind as they continued to argue over their earth names.

“Besides, there's plenty of names with R and D in them,” Rodrigo continued. “Nothin' as cool as _Rodrigo,_ of course... but such is life.” he offered a short shrug to this last quip.

“Rodrigo's not so cool,” RD-08 said as she glared at Rodrigo. Then she looked over to RD-07. “Anyway, I think a better name for you is Randal.”

“Oh... yeah? You think so?” RD-07 tilted his helm.

“Definitely. You just _look_ like a Randal, y'know?” RD-08 continued with a short nod of her helm, “and you could-”

“Ahh!! G-guys...” They looked over at RD-09 as she spoke. The 'Con was waving her servos fervently as she stared past the others. “Guys, watch out! There's-” she pointed down the hall. The other three turned to look as well and then scrambled to the side of the hall as a herd of Insecticons practically stampeded down the hall towards them. They watched, somewhat dumbfounded, as the swarm passed them, some of them flying in their insect modes, and flew into the groundbridge terminal where the Vehicons were waiting to start their shift. A few of the Insecticons may have given the four gathered Vehicons a sidewards glance or a growl, but other than that they didn't seem to take notice of them.

Once they'd all gone and it had gotten quieter in the hall, RD-07 spoke up again. “What are _those_ things doing here?” he grumbled, glaring towards where the Insecticons had disappeared through the entrance. “Shouldn't they be scraping space barnacles off the bottom of the ship or something?”

Rodrigo glanced over at his squadmate. “I thought that was unit ZR's job.”

This earned a quiet chuckle from the others, but no other acknowledgement, which surprised Rodrigo because he actually hadn't been joking.

“Come on, let's go see what's going on in there.” RD-08 said, stepping towards the entryway.

As the four Vehicons entered the groundbridge terminal, they saw the room was divided into Insecticons on the left, and the miners and soldiers waiting for their shifts on the right. Both groups appeared rather disgruntled to be in the presence of the other, and they were muttering amongst themselves to that effect. Meanwhile, above the main group of groundbridges on the far wall, the silvery frame of AA-00 could be seen flitting about the catwalks, busily speaking to each of the bridge technicians.

Rodrigo's squadmates quickly moved towards the amassed Vehicons on their right and so, after a quick glance over at the Insecticons, he followed suit. On the catwalk above, AA-00 stepped closer to the railing and began thumping their fist on it. The loud clanging silenced the room and all optics fell on their superior.

“I understand there is some confusion as to why the Insecticons have joined us today...” they began addressing the Vehicons, straightening their posture but keeping a firm grip on the railing. “I realize this is hardly an ideal way to find out, but there's been a change in mine protocol. As I'm sure you are all aware, there have been at least two attacks on our mining operations in just the last decacycle.” They paused and glanced over at the Insecticons. “So, in order to better protect you, our miners and soldiers, as well as our secured energon, we have begun to assign the Insecticons to security detail in the mines.”

This announcement was followed by a thunderous uproar from the Vehicons. Rodrigo shrank back, a little confused and intimidated, as his fellows all began shouting at the same time. He stared at the angry mass of Vehicons for a moment, then glanced towards the Insecticons. They looked just as angry, and they also were making a racket. Though the noises they made were less words and more intense, high pitched shrieking. Some of it directed over at the Vehicons and some of it up at AA-00. Rodrigo looked up at AA-00 again in time to see the seeker raise a digit to the comm on their helm.

“ _ENOUGH!!_ ”

An unanimous groan rumbled through both groups as their individual comms pinged on and they each heard AA-00's shout as if it had been directly into their audio receptors. Then it was silent.

AA-00 lowered their digit again. “The Insecticons are capable warriors _and_ your fellow Decepticons.” They glared at the Vehicons, their visor glowing bright as their optics flared angrily beneath. “You will treat your _colleagues_ with respect-” their helm snapped over to glare at the Insecticons. “-as will they.”

“This is ridiculous!!”

Rodrigo's helm perked up as he recognized the voice. He stood up on the tips of his pedes to look and saw Steve had stepped forward near the front of the crowd and was glaring up at AA-00.

Steve gestured angrily towards the Insecticons, keeping his gaze up at AA-00. “You expect us to work while a bunch of _Insecticons_ are staring over our shoulders all day?!” he shouted, “These brutes are more likely to wreck our operation than the slaggin' Autobots!”

This was met by a collective shriek from the Insecticons. One of them, a large Insecticon lined with deep, white scars along his face and torso, stepped out of his crowd as well. He flared his wings behind him angrily as he glared at Steve. “Say that _again_ , you little parasite!!” he snarled.

“Quiet, you!” AA-00 interjected, giving a nasty look to the Insecticon. Then they turned their attention to Steve. “Since you object so strongly, ST-03,” they paused, clasping their servos behind their back and tilting their helm condescendingly, “Oh, or should I call you _Steve_?”

His servos clenched as Steve heard his human name, but he kept his optics trained on AA-00. Seeing the miner was unfazed, AA-00 continued: “If you insist that this is the wrong action and you have some betteridea, then perhaps you would like to take it up with _Lord Megatron._ This order comes directly from him, after all.”

Steve's posture stiffened very suddenly as though a jolt had run through his frame. For a moment he just stood there awkwardly, then he looked towards the Insecticons... finally, he turned his optics to the floor and shuffled silently back into the crowd of Vehicons.

AA-00's wings gave a triumphant flutter and they continued, “If there are no other issues-” they gave a short nod to the technicians who turned to their respective control panels to power on the bridges. AA-00 looked to the crowd below them one last time and raised their fist into the air, “For the glory of the Decepticons!”

“All hail Megatron!” came the unanimous response.

With that, AA-00 turned to leave, pulling out a datapad and getting straight back to work as they walked. Meanwhile, the Vehicons below began forming ranks as they prepared to exit to the mines. Rodrigo followed his squadmates through the crowd as they searched for the other six members of their unit. As they spotted RD-01 up ahead, he suddenly felt something grasp his upper arm. He looked around and saw Steve next to him. Before he could even say hello, Steve spoke up.

“Rodrigo, you're still assigned to mine NTX-19, right?” he asked, his voice sounding a bit concerned.

“Yeah. Why?”

Steve glanced warily at a group of Insecticons standing close by, “It's just... well, that's kind of a big mine is all. You guys will probably get a lot of Insecticons to guard the place.”

Rodrigo glanced over at the Insecticons as well, then looked back to his friend and said with a slight shrug, “So?”

“So, I want you to be careful around them.” Steve tightened his grip on Rodrigo's arm. “Seriously. You don't wanna mess with those things- they're violent and unpredictable! Just promise you'll stay away from them if you can.”

“...Uh... Yeah. Okay I guess.” Rodrigo mumbled. Steve nodded and, with one last glance at the nearby Insecticons, he headed off to join his own squad. Rodrigo just stood there for another moment, still feeling a bit confused. He stared at the Insecticons out of the corner of his optic... But they were Decepticons too, weren't they? Well, they were kinda _different_ looking. And they were sorta gruff and, okay, maybe some of them seemed downright feral, but... Well honestly, that didn't really bother Rodrigo. Except... if _Steve_ thought they were dangerous...

Rodrigo let out an exhausted vent as he shuffled towards his unit. It was all too much to think about. He'd be better off just following Steve's advice. Steve usually knew what he was talking about, anyway.

* * *

“I'm tellin' ya, guys! The mines they've been hittin' recently were a fraggin' mess. I heard it from LN-07 herself.”

“Well, what exactly would a 'fraggin' mess' entail? I mean, we've almost all seen what an Autobot attack is like, so what makes these ones-?”

“Look I dunno specifics, I just know what LN told me.” RD-07 or, as he was now called, Randal interrupted. He was leaning on the controls to the drill he'd been operating a moment ago and was looking down at RD-08, or Rhonda as she had decided to go by.

“I just don't see how it could get much _worse_ is all.” Rhonda continued as she went about gathering energon crystals from the freshly drilled wall. She placed them all gingerly in the hover cart she had nearby and turned to go pick up some more. “They've previously taken out mines where they'd killed _everyone_ in them and stole all the energon. What else could they do that would be _so_ horrific?”

“It's gotta be something real bad.” RD-09, or rather, _Rudy_ interjected. She was standing on her own drill about twenty yards from Randal's. “Why else would AA-00 let the Insecticons into our mines?”

“Because they're an _aft._ ” Randal tugged angrily on one of the levers of his drill at this last word. He began the process to power it back on as Rhonda picked up the last of the visible crystals. “They don't need a _reason_ to make our lives miserable. Seriously, Double-A should just frag off already.”

“That's _enough._ ” Rhonda said sternly. She glared at him, then quickly glanced around to make sure there were no higher ranking Decepticons who might get him in trouble for saying something like that. They were rather close to the main chamber, but luckily the crevice they were working in was at the end of a cart track. So it was unlikely someone would hear.

Rodrigo, who had been collecting his own crystals from around Rudy's drill, let out a quiet laugh. “You can say that again, Randal,” he said, ignoring Rhonda's concern. He let his armful of energon drop into his own cart and proceeded to lean on the edges with his elbows, tilting his helm thoughtfully. “But y'know what? I'll bet it'd be _really_ cool to watch an Insecticon beat the scrap out'uv an Autobot.”

This got a _look_ from Rhonda and a huff of disapproval from Randal. “What?!” Rodrigo continued. “They're really strong! I'm just sayin' they could probably scrap an Autobot. So if an Autobot _did_ show up, I wouldn't mind a front row seat to that fight. ...That's all I'm sayin'.”

“What so you think it’s _good_ there's Insecticons with us, now?” Randal turned away from his controls to glare at Rodrigo.

“Well no, I mean... It's just-” Rodrigo fumbled for a reply, but they didn't wait for him to give one.

“Don't be so naïve, Rodrigo,” Rhonda interrupted him.

“Sure the Insecticons are big, but just that doesn't make 'em good fighters,” Randal continued, looking back to his controls. “You've gotta be _smart_ to be any good in a battle, and they're a bunch of mindless scrap eaters, the lot of 'em... They'd do everyone a favor if they went back under whatever rock they crawled out from,” he mumbled this last part under his breath.

Rodrigo lifted his arm in a gesture, about to make some sort of statement about how Randal was being unfair or something. He hadn't quite thought through what he intended to say, but it didn't matter- just as he was about to, a piercing shriek rang out, sending a chill up his spinal column and silencing him. Not a moment later, two Insecticons fell from the rock ceiling near the crevice entrance, landing with a loud THUD and then proceeding to circle Randal's drill.

“Did you hear that, Kickback _back_?” one of them spoke up, his noticeably long and pointed mandibles clicking irritably. “The _drone_ thinks we can't fight _fight_.”

Kickback snarled viciously and stepped up onto the back of the drill with one very long, very powerful looking leg. “Perhaps we should prove it wrong, Shrapnel,” he offered.

Randal's visor flared brightly in fear as he stumbled back to distance himself from the beasts, all the while trying to stammer excuses. “Wha- whoa hold on! I-I didn't... you can't- th-that's not what...”

Rhonda dropped the crystals in her servos and rushed up to the closer Insecticon, Shrapnel, transforming out her blaster and taking aim at his helm. “Back off, bugs!” she shouted, “I'm not afraid to-”

Without even letting her finish, Shrapnel swung up one of the smaller insect legs on his chassis and knocked her blaster arm out of his face, then immediately followed it up with a powerful blow from his arm, knocking Rhonda onto the side of the drill and pinning her under his claws.

Shrapnel let out a harsh laugh as he watched her struggle against his grip. “And you think we are the ones who can't fight _fight_?” he growled, “You miners are pathetic _pathetic_!”

Kickback clicked his mandibles in agreement, the two antennae on his helm giving a slight twinge of eagerness. Randal tried to jump off the drill and flee, but the Insecticon pounced with amazing speed and snatched the Vehicon out of the air. Rodrigo looked away as Kickback's claws closed over Randal's mask. He made to take cover behind his hovercart, but before he could, Rhonda was flung towards him and smashed into it, sending energon crystals flying and upending the cart so it landed on top of Rodrigo.

“Rhonda! _Rodrigo!!_ ” Rudy stood up from behind the side of the drill where she'd been hiding and looked anxiously at her friends. Then she turned to the Insecticons. “Wh-what's your problem?!” she shouted, her voice wavering slightly. “W-why won't you just l-leave us alone?”

Shrapnel let out a low growl and started towards Rudy, but he stumbled when a sizable energon crystal smacked him in the side of the helm. “Stay away from her, you piston-licker!!” Rhonda, though still on her knees and looking rather disoriented, had a second crystal in her servo already and was drawing it back to throw.

The Insecticon just tilted back slightly to avoid the second one. He did not look amused, but behind him Kickback was roaring in laughter. One of his powerful legs was pressing Randal's helm into the drill's platform and the two smaller legs on his chassis were playing with the mask he had apparently ripped off the Vehicon's face. “Hahaa!! That was great!” he laughed, pointing at Shrapnel. “The look on your face was just-”

Shrapnel interrupted Kickback with a loud, angry shriek, then turned to Rhonda. “You're going to regret that, stupid little Vehicon _con_.” As he spoke, short bursts of electricity erupted from the ends of his mandibles.

“Oh are you actually gonna fry the things?” Kickback asked, a bit nonchalant as he tossed the stolen mask back and forth with his small legs. “I thought we were just having some fun. They're only miners.”

“Exactly! _Exactly._ And it's not _fun_ that they get away with thinking us Insecticons are inferior _inferior!!_ ” Shrapnel snapped as he stomped over to Rhonda, seizing her by the neck. “These pathetic miners need to be shown their place _their place_!!”

Just as his mandibles, crackling with energy, were about to clamp down on Rhonda's face, he paused as he heard a loud, vibrating buzz drawing closer. He looked back around just as a much larger Insecticon flew through the entrance, transformed from his insect mode, and landed just behind him.

Rodrigo, who was still somewhat trapped underneath the overturned hovercart, managed to peek out a bit and noticed this was the same Insecticon with all the scars who had yelled at Steve in the bridge terminal. He also noticed that the Insecticon looked very unhappy. He glared down at Rhonda for a moment, then glanced over Randal, still being crushed by Kickback, and the cowering Rudy. Finally he turned to Shrapnel. “What's going on here?” he asked with an angry growl.

“We're just teachin' these stupid Vehicons some respect is all, Hardshell.” Kickback replied, still fiddling with the mask.

“Shut up _up_!!” Shrapnel hissed. Then he looked back to the bigger Insecticon. “These miners were making trouble, Hardshell _shell._ ”

“What?! You stupid Insecticons are the ones who- _HRRK_!!” Rhonda was quickly cut off as Shrapnel tightened the grip on her neck.

Hardshell let out a few rapid clicks, his single mandible twitching irritably. “ _Idiot!_ ” he said grabbing ahold of Shrapnel's own mandible with his claws and dragging him back from the Vehicon. “Our orders are to _protect_ the mine. Those orders are directly from _Lord Megatron!_ If you go around killing the miners you will make us all look like fools!”

Rhonda gave a few quiet coughs as she cleared her vents, energon dribbling from her neck cables. “You bugs don't need much help with that,” she grumbled, barely audible.

A fierce shriek came from Hardshell and he rounded on her, stopping his claws just inches from her face. “Do _not_ test me, Vehicon,” he growled, “I may have orders to protect you, but should you continue to provoke my Insecticons- I cannot guarantee that I will be around to do so.” With that, Hardshell withdrew his claws and turned to go. “Shrapnel! Kickback! Let's go. Back to our post.”

After two nasty glares in Rhonda's direction, all three Insecticons transformed and flew off into the main chamber. Just as they did, two other Vehicon miners, one holding a datapad, stepped into the entrance to their little crevice. “What... were _they_ doing in here?”

“RD-01... we were just- uh...” Randal tried to stand but staggered a bit and fell off his drill.

RD-01 glared at him a moment, then with an exasperated vent, motioned to the Vehicon beside her who hurried forward to help Randal up. “I knew those Insecticons were going to cause trouble,” she continued, stepping further into their work space. She motioned towards the overturned cart and all the spilled energon crystals. “Just look at this mess! If they've damaged any of the crystals then-”

RD-01 continued to go on about the energon, complaining about how little they seemed to mine anyway and how it was so much harder to process when it was damaged. Meanwhile, Rhonda, still dripping a bit of energon from her neck, had regained her bearings enough to help Rudy as she turned the cart back over, freeing Rodrigo.

Randal and the other Vehicon, who was helping him along, making sure he was okay to walk on his own, approached the others. “Yeah uh... I think _we_ might be a little damaged, though.” he interrupted RD-01.

She stopped her rant and glared at him. “Hmm. Oh yes. That's troublesome too.” she added. “I suppose you'll have to go waste time in the medical bay now?” she paused, tilting her helm slightly. “And just where is your mask?”

“Uh, that... that Insecticon-” he pointed towards the entrance.

“Oh of _course_ he took it.” RD-01 folded her arms across her chassis. “Look, I know the Insecticons are big, stupid brutes and all, but that doesn't mean you can blame every indiscretion on them, RD-07.”

“Wha-? FRAG RD-01 are we seriously doing this now?!” Randal shouted, pushing off the other Vehicon and limping towards her. “I didn't forget my mask again, alright? That Insecticon _stole_ it!”

“I'm really not interested in your excuses, especially since we're going to lose so much time with you getting repaired, anyway.” RD-01 lifted her datapad, making a few strokes on it and then looking to the Vehicon who had accompanied her. “RD-02, please escort RD-07 and RD-08 to the medical bay.” She looked to Randal again. “I won't give you a strike this time, but you had _better_ have your mask on when you get back to work.”

“What are you going to do about the Insecticons?” Rhonda spoke up.

“I'm going to file a report and submit it in our status update.”

“That's _it_?! They were going to kill us!”

“You look functional to me. Oh don't give me that look, RD-08. That's protocol and I'm going to follow it to the letter.” RD-01 said flatly. Then she looked to Rudy and Rodrigo. “And you two, get back to work... and pick up all those crystals.” With that she turned and left, mumbling something to herself about not wasting energon.

When she was gone, RD-02 stepped up to Randal and put his arm over his shoulders to help him walk. “Err... sorry about her,” he mumbled. “You know how she is about the rules... I _have_ been trying to loosen her up a bit but... well, you know...”

Randal let out a low grumble, “They really _did_ steal my mask, though... and I've got two strikes against me already. If I come back without it-”

“Hmm, that's not good... Um... well, maybe you two could go fetch it for him while we're gone?” RD-02 looked to Rudy and Rodrigo. Rudy let out a high pitched squeak and shrank back, apparently trying to hide from his gaze. “Ah... or maybe not.” RD-02 mumbled.

Rhonda, rubbing her aching neck cables a bit, let out a resigned vent and turned to Rodrigo. “Rodrigo... could you-?”

“What, are you _crazy_?!” Rodrigo held up his servos defensively. “After what they just did? And... and Steve said- No. No way. I can't. They'd kill me!”

“Well, what if you just asked that big striped one?” Rhonda asked. “What was his name again? _Bombshell_ or something... but, if you tell him RD-01 will get the Insecticons into trouble if he doesn't give it back-”

“But she won't.”

“Right, but he doesn't know that.”

“You know I'm no good at lying!”

“COME ON, Rodrigo!” Randal pleaded, “Please, you have to _try_! I'd do the same for you.”

Rodrigo glanced at each of his squadmates fearfully... Well... He couldn't just sit back and let his friend get in trouble, could he? …Oh scrap. He was actually going to do this, wasn't he? After ventilating deeply, Rodrigo slowly nodded his helm.

“ _Thank you_ , Rodrigo!” Rhonda placed her servo on his shoulder. “You'll be fine. Just... don't say anything stupid.”

Rhonda waved back at him as RD-02 led her and Randal off. Rodrigo waved back nervously and kept waving after they'd gone out of sight. He finally stopped when Rudy latched onto his arm with a high pitched whine.

“Roddyyyy,” she squeaked, “You don't have to do this! W-we can figure something else out.”

Rodrigo placed his servo on her helm, “First of all, _Rodrigo_ not Roddy. Roddy sounds super pretentious.” he said with a quiet chuckle, “And second... I'll... I'll be okay. Don't worry. Just... start cleaning up. I'll be back really quick.”

Rudy let out another whine, this time quieter, but she said nothing, choosing instead to just nod. Rodrigo gave a short nod back and turned to go, stepping out towards the main chamber.

The chamber was mostly hollowed out by now- a massive hole with seven levels of rings connected by metal catwalks and wide lifts meant for transferring energon. At the very bottom in the center of the hole was the main command center and just near that was energon storage... And standing down by the stacks of refined energon he was able to make out the massive, white scarred frame of Hardshell.

Since he didn't have wings, Rodrigo quickly headed towards the lift to get to the bottom floor. As he did, he couldn't help but notice all the Insecticons that were buzzing around, clinging to the walls, and crawling all about. They seemed pretty at home in the mine... Like this kind of environment suited them somehow. It was just a weird little observation he couldn't help.

As the lift reached the ground floor, he hesitated stepping off. Now that he had come down four floors, Hardshell looked much bigger... Oh wow this was such a _terrible_ idea. He should just go back now. Randal would just have to get another strike. His third strike though. Aww but that meant he'd be punished... and Rodrigo wasn't even going to _try_ to help him? No, that wasn't fair.

Ignoring the strange look he was getting from the lift operator, Rodrigo ruffled his plating for a moment and then took a big step onto the ground. And paused again.

The lift powered on behind him and rose back up. He glanced back at it anxiously for a moment, then looked forward again. Hardshell was about fifty yards away, standing in front of the stored energon cubes. It looked like the same two Insecticons were there with him as well... but they didn't have any scars to mark them or anything so Rodrigo wasn't absolutely sure. Either way, he started towards them, staring determinedly ahead at the striped Insecticon. Then, as he was about twenty yards away, Hardshell looked over and met his gaze. Rodrigo almost let out a terrified squeak, and his pace slowed, but he willed himself to keep moving... finally, he was standing right in front of the massive Insecticon and staring up at him. And Hardshell stared right back.

Rodrigo just stood there for a moment, paralyzed in fear. Scrap this was bad! He was going to get himself killed or eaten or at least _maimed._

Hardshell's single mandible twitched and he tilted his helm slightly. “What is it, miner?” he asked gruffly.

“Uh... I just... I was-” Rodrigo finally managed to stammer. “Th-those Vehicons before... they were... they were my squad and uh...” he pulled his gaze off Hardshell and looked to the Insecticons behind him. The one with the long legs. Kickback. Yes that was the one. “They... they took my squadmate's mask.”

Hardshell glanced back at Kickback for a moment, then looked back to Rodrigo. “And?”

“Well... H-he'll get in trouble if he-” NO! No, that wasn't what Rhonda told him to say! SCRAP he blew it!

Hardshell let out a low chuckle and crossed his arms across his chassis. “Oh really? Well, why should we care if your squadmate is disciplined?” he asked, a nasty grin on his face. “After hearing your kind's opinion of the Insecticons, I am hardly feeling sympathetic.”

“Yes, I know... but uh...” Rodrigo glanced around, trying to pull his thoughts together quickly. “But... I mean, I know what he said was really uncalled for. You guys... you're not _mindless_. A-and you're really powerful and I-I'm sorry... he shouldn'tve said those things, I mean.” He looked back up. Hardshell was no longer grinning. In fact he looked a bit surprised. Maybe that was good. Rodrigo continued, trying to keep that same train of thought. “Y-yeah... I'm not surprised you guys got upset from hearing that. It was super rude of them to say... I mean... I don't think the _violence_ was okay or anything, though. I mean, we're all 'Cons, right? I think we oughta try and... uh…”

Hardshell tilted his helm down in a half nod. “I see you aren't as slow as your _squadmates._ And I appreciate seeing you humble yourself in apology... However,” he said, lowering his helm further, his optical visor flashing brighter, “I fail to see why I should help the miner who so insulted us when it is _you_ who has been humbled.”

“Well... um... well, the thing is...” Rodrigo mumbled, scratching the back of his helm. “The... the Vehicons don't think much of the Insecticons, do they? They think you're dangerous and mean and- I-I don't mean it as an insult! I just... just I've seen that attitude is all... but... well, if you were to help out a miner even though they'd been rude to you, I guess that would... prove them wrong.” Rodrigo shrank back slightly. “At least... it would to me.”

Hardshell stared down at the Vehicon for a long moment, his expression very blank. Finally he spoke again, “What is your designation?”

“I'm... Rodrigo.”

“Rodrigo, eh?” Hardshell repeated. Then he quickly turned to Kickback, his mandibles clicking as he held out his claw expectantly. Kickback gave a few angry clicks in reply, but then leaned over and spat the mask into Hardshell's open servo. Hardshell offered it up to Rodrigo who took it with only a little hesitation. He did hold it out at arms' length though. He really did not want to cover himself in Insecticon oral lubricant...

“Thank you so much!” he said as he started to back away. “I really appreciate this. And my squadmate will too!”

Hardshell let out a quiet growl. “Just go before I change my mind.”

Rodrigo nodded and hurried back towards the lift. He actually felt pretty good about himself just then. He'd been brave enough to approach the Insecticon for his friend... and it turns out, he wasn't so bad after all. As the lift reached the ground level again and he stepped on, he glanced back at Hardshell. The Insecticon was still watching him curiously, but looked away once their optics met.

Rodrigo smiled a bit behind his mask. He couldn't wait to tell Steve how wrong he'd been.

———————————————————————————


	2. Chapter 2

“Steve, wait up!!” Rodrigo pushed past the droves of miners headed towards the canteens and towards his friend. In his mind he was trying to think of the best way to tell Steve about how the Insecticon he'd met had actually been (relatively) nice to him while still conveying how brave it was to confront one by himself. Although as he ran after Steve, he noticed his friend wasn't heading towards the canteens like everyone else. “Hey Steve, it's break time.” he said, falling into step beside him. “Where're ya going?”

“Yeah I know.” Steve only glanced at him as he continued down the hall. “But I still need to find Wendy.”

“Didn't you go look for him _before_ first shift?”

“I did. But I guess he isn't staying in the long term care ward anymore... and WY-02 wouldn't let me into the medbay for some reason.” Steve quickened his pace slightly and Rodrigo almost stumbled trying to keep up. He was a little surprised at how concerned Steve seemed.

“I'm sure he's fine.” Rodrigo tried to reassure him. “Wendy can take care of himself, y'know.”

“I didn't say he couldn't, but... Well, I just wanna make sure he's not in trouble.” Steve stopped in front of a lift and pressed a digit to the command console on the side. “You hear about how Soundwave woke up?”

“Oh yeah.” Rodrigo mumbled, “With the sparkling, right? That couldn't have been pretty.”

Steve shuffled his plating anxiously as he stepped into the lift. Rodrigo followed after him. “I just want to make sure he's holding up alright,” Steve continued, “and that AA-00 didn't punish him too excessively.”

“Hmm. Yeah. They tend to do that.” Rodrigo mumbled, mentally recalling his numerous personal experiences in that area. “But if that's what you're really worried about, we might as well go see if Wendy's scrubbing out the main engine thrusters with a digit buffer.”

“AA-00 wouldn't have him doing that. The engines are running.”

“Yeah well... I wouldn't put it past 'em.” Rodrigo shrugged as they stepped out of the lift and started down the hallway again.

“Well, I'm going to _start_ looking in the medbay.” Steve said, then glanced back at Rodrigo. “You know, you don't have to come with me if you don't want. I don't mean to make you miss your break.”

“Nah it's alright, I was just-” Rodrigo paused a moment, remembering why he'd followed Steve in the first place: to brag. “Oh that's right! There was somethin' I wanted to tell you! In the mine earlier, I was-”

“Wait, was that-?” Steve cut him off. A Vehicon had just shuffled by through a cross section of hallway up ahead. Steve hurried around the corner after him. “Wendy! Hey, Wendy!”

Wendy froze mid-step, his helm turning just slightly to look back. “Oh- oh Primus, uhh...” he mumbled to himself before turning all the way around. He plastered a big smile on his face and waved to greet his approaching friends. “H-hey guys! I... haven't seen you in awhile.”

“Slag yeah, you haven't!” Rodrigo stepped up to him, standing just behind Steve, and placed his servos on his hips. “Where've you been hiding? Steve was looking for you, y'know?”

“Oh. Um. I just... I've been busy.” Wendy shifted his optics down to the floor and rocked back on his heels. “Y'know. Medbay stuff.”

Rodrigo shrugged his shoulder plating, “Well, you look free right now. Come have a cube with us.”

“I-I don't think... I mean, I want to, but...” Wendy mumbled, wringing his servos together.

“Come on!” Rodrigo stepped forward and grabbed Wendy by the arm. “The medbay can manage without you for a few more-”

“ _Rodrigo_.”

The stern voice that Steve interrupted him with immediately shut the mech's mouth. Ah. He was being pushy again and hadn't realized. After a glance over at his friend, Rodrigo released Wendy and shrank back mumbling apologies.

Steve turned his optics up to Wendy again and continued, his voice much softer than it had been just a moment ago. “What's the matter, Wendy?”

“Wha-? I... i-it's nothing _._ I'm fine.” Wendy kept his optics on the floor. “I don't wanna bother you guys...” he added quietly. Rodrigo suddenly felt like there was a knot in his fuel intake. Scrap. His friend was so _obviously_ upset and he hadn't even noticed. He felt like such an aft. Well, at least Steve had realized and called him off...

“No, come on.” Steve reached up, placing a digit under Wendy's chin, and pulled his gaze back up to meet his own. “Don't say stuff like that. We're your friends; we wanna be there for you.”

Wendy hesitated visibly before he opened his mouth, but rather than form any words, his vents hitched in a sob. His servos flew up and covered his face, “S-sorry! I'm so sorry!”

“Wha-? Hey, don't be sorry! You haven't done anything wrong!” Rodrigo quickly spoke up, awkwardly lifting his servos, not sure if he should try to touch him again.

Steve was way ahead of him, though, and reached up and grabbed both Wendy's servos and gently pulling them away from his face. “It's okay. Tell us what happened.” He insisted, looking directly into Wendy's face.

Wendy stared back at the optical visor of Steve's mask. He hesitated for another moment, but finally spoke up, his voice wavering only slightly. “There was... y-yesterday another mine was attacked and it was... it was _so bad._ ” Coolant was pooling in his optics and he looked down again. “We lost e-e- _everyone._ Th-they didn't even get a chance to call for help... The shift change just went down there a-and found it all... And some of the soldiers are still missing and...”

“Primus.” Rodrigo mumbled, looking away. “I didn't know there was an attack yesterday... that's _three_ in the last decacycle, isn't it?”

“And they bring the frames to the medbay.” Steve kept his gaze on Wendy, giving his servos a reassuring squeeze. “So you've had to see all of them. Oh Wendy, I'm so sorry... WY-01 doesn't have you processing parts, does he?”

“No. No, he knows I couldn't-” Wendy shuttered his optics, coolant now streaming down his face. “But... but the frames they've brought in, it's...” he opened his optics again, looking up at Steve. His voice lowered as he continued, “They... have no energon.”

There was a moment of silence as the two tried to process hearing this. Finally Rodrigo spoke up, “They... no, wait... so lemme get this straight,” he shifted uncomfortably. “the _dead_ Decepticons they're bringing up to the medbay have _no energon_ in their frames? Wh-what does that mean? So like... they were all really injured and bled out so much that-?”

“ _No._ ” Wendy interrupted him, “Their energon was _drained_... or siphoned off somehow.” He shuttered his optics tightly, clenching his servos, still being held by Steve. “Th-the whole mine wasn't enough for those _fragging Autobots._ So they s-stole the energon right out their frames! They're sodisgustingand awful _I_ _hate them SO MUCH_ -”

Steve tightened his grip on Wendy's servos, “Wendy. Calm down.” he said firmly. “I know it's horrible, but you can't stress yourself out like this! You'll go into burnout.”

Wendy ventilated deeply through his mouth and nodded. “Mm. Yeah, I know...” he mumbled. Pulling one servo out of Steve's, he wiped the coolant off his face. “Sorry.”

“Don't apologize.” Steve said. Then he nodded back down the hallway the way they'd come. “Come on, let's go down to the canteens and see if we can't cheer you up a bit.”

“Yeah. That sounds good.” Wendy replied quietly and followed as Steve led him down the hall, still holding his servo.

“Oh, well if we're in 'cheering up mode' now,” Rodrigo jumped to their side. “I heard XT-04 talking about making a Prime model that she was gonna hang up in the canteens. I bet she could use some help with welding it.”

“Why would she make a model of _him_?” Steve asked.

“Well we don't have the _real_ Prime here, do we? So we'll have to make do with smacking around an _effigy_ with a hammer till we feel better!”

That goaded the first genuine smile they'd seen from Wendy. “That sounds like fun.”

“Great! Because XT-04 might be on an engineering squad, but she's _scrap_ at welding. She'll probably need-”

“Rodrigo!”

Rodrigo stopped. He thought he was being helpful. Had he said something stupid again and not realized it? The mech looked from Wendy to Steve to ask what the problem was, but Steve wasn't looking at him- he was looking ahead down the corridor they'd just turned into. Rodrigo followed his gaze and saw why he'd stopped. A group of three Insecticons nearby and making their way down the hall towards them.

Steve and Wendy hurried to the side of the hall and out of their way, and then gestured fervently for Rodrigo to do the same. Rodrigo stared at them a moment, then looked back at the Insecticons. He started to move out of the way but then stopped. Oh! That one in front- it was the same one with white stripes he'd spoken to in the mines: Hardshell.

They'd gotten distracted by Wendy, so he'd never told Steve about that, had he? Glancing back at his friends again, Rodrigo smiled smugly behind his mask. Well now he'd have the chance to _demonstrate_ how wrong Steve had been.

Rodrigo spun back around to face the Insecticons just as they were passing by and lifted his arm in a short wave. “Hi, Hardshell!”

The Insecticon stopped and turned his helm down to look at the little Vehicon. He appeared confused for a few seconds until a gleam of recognition crossed his face and he growled, “Hello, Rodrigo.”

Rodrigo glanced over at the other two Insecticons standing behind Hardshell. They might have been the same ones that had accompanied him before, but he still couldn't quite tell. They were both staring at him and neither looked pleased. Rodrigo looked back up at Hardshell. He didn't seem irritated like the other two, though, so that was encouraging. “Where're you going?”

“One of our hive was sent to the medbay during the first shift. We are going to fetch him.” Hardshell replied, giving a short nod.

“Oh, that's too bad. I hope it's nothing serious.”

“It wasn't _wasn't._ ” One of the Insecticons behind Hardshell spoke up, glaring fiercely at Rodrigo.

Hardshell turned to him, giving an intimidating hiss before looking back to Rodrigo and clicking apologetically, “We must be going-”

“Oh, of course!” Rodrigo held up his servos and took a small step back. “I didn't mean to keep you from your friend.”

Hardshell nodded appreciatively and turned to keep walking.

“See you around!”

Giving a short glance back, the Insecticon almost appeared to smile a bit before turning to continue on, only grumbling a short reply, “Indeed.”

The other two followed after Hardshell immediately, only offering disapproving growls to Rodrigo before hurrying off.

The Insecticons disappeared around the corner a moment later, and Rodrigo smiled triumphantly behind his mask. That had gone well. And Steve and Wendy had both seen that Hardshell had been friendly towards him! That sure felt like success to Rodrigo. Placing his servos on his hips and standing up straight and proud, he turned to face his friends. However, he was a bit surprised that when he saw them, they appeared utterly shocked. Wendy wasn't wearing his mask, so it was easy to see how terrified he looked, but even with Steve, who had his mask on, it was easy to tell how disgruntled he was.

“What. was. _that_?!” Steve finally spoke up after nearly a minute of awkward, silent staring.

“What was what?” Rodrigo grumbled, suddenly feeling a bit less confident.

“How did that _Insecticon_ know your name?” Steve continued, leaning in closer. “I thought I told you not to get involved with those things! They're dangerous, Rodrigo!!”

“But-” Rodrigo clenched his servos indignantly. Had Steve not even paid attention to what just happened? “But they're _not!_ ” He insisted, “I just wanted to prove that to you. Hardshell was-”

“Don't call it by a name!” Steve interrupted. “Those _things_ aren't like us, Rodrigo. I told you, they're unpredictable. It might be nice to you now, but anything might set it off!”

“Stop calling Hardshell an _'it!'_ ” Rodrigo shouted, “You're being totally unfair! You don't know any Insecticons, so how would _you_ know anything about them?”

“Rodrigo...” Wendy finally spoke up, his voice still rather small and scared. “You... you don't want to get involved with those things. I mean... Don't they scare you?”

“I don't believe this!!” Rodrigo threw his servos up, gesturing angrily. “Even _you_ , Wendy?! I'd have thought if anyone would be open about this it'd be you! Aren't you always going on about _humans_ and stuff? Why give those squishy things a chance but not the Insecticons, huh?”

“That's different.” Wendy said, shuffling his pede slightly. “Insecticons are... they're just... they're _different_.”

“They're still Cybertronian!” Rodrigo insisted, “That's more than you could say about your dumb humans.”

“Don't yell at Wendy because you decided to be an aft and get yourself in trouble!” Steve held up a digit threateningly. “I mean it, Rodrigo! Talking to those Insecticons is _only_ going to get you into trouble. I'm telling you this as your friend.”

“You're making too big a deal out of it... The Insecticons aren't going to hurt me. Especially not Hardshell.”

“Yeah, well even if you _were_ right about that,” Steve continued, “It's not just them you should be worried about. You think the other miners are going to just _accept_ that you made friends with an Insecticon?”

Rodrigo turned his helm away, “I don't see how it's anyone else's problem.”

“It doesn't matter if _you_ think it's not their problem! Some Vehicons will get mad about it and they'll take it out on you.”

“That's... that's stupid.” Rodrigo looked back at Steve. “You said the same thing about the human names thing, and that turned out fine!”

“No! Slag it, Rodrigo this is different!” Steve shouted, apparently reaching the end of his patience. “This is really _really_ different!! I mean it; you can't let anyone else know about this!”

“Yeah, whatever.” Rodrigo turned away one final time and started down the hallway. “I think I'd rather spend the rest of my break alone if it's the same to you. I'll see you guys later.”

“Rodri-”

“I said _later._ ” Rodrigo huffed angrily and walked faster.

Slag it. He hadn't expected that reaction from his friends... and he hadn't meant to get so mad about it either. Huh. He was actually mad about this. Why was that? He hadn't been this mad all the other times Steve had told him off. Maybe he'd been right about that one part: something about this really was different.

As he hurried through the corridors, he realized he wasn't even headed anywhere and so he stopped. It felt kind of stupid that he was so worked up over this. He had only spoken to Hardshell twice, but still, Steve saying he couldn't talk to him anymore just because he was an Insecticon... He let out a long vent and tried to cool his heated systems. The whole thing was stupid, he decided. If he wanted to befriend an Insecticon then that was _his_ business and nobody else's. And that was just what he intended to do! He was going to befriend Hardshell and prove to all of them just how wrong they were!

Smiling confidently behind his mask, Rodrigo started down the hall again. Hmm. For some reason, the idea of getting to know Hardshell better made him... _excited_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! More Vehicon cuties~
> 
> A few warnings on this chapter, some minor violence and bullying.. oh also robot racism. But you knew about that already. :U

Rodrigo was a little surprised how easy it was to just invade Hardshell's space. Although calling in an _invasion_ seemed ill fitting. After all, if the Insecticon didn't want him there then he _really_ wouldn't be there. Which he learned when the other two Insecticons, Shrapnel and Kickback, suddenly found themselves unwelcome.

He was kind of glad about that, actually. Those two hadn't been nearly as receptive to Rodrigo's offer of friendship as Hardshell. In fact, he secretly hoped their rudeness was why Hardshell started keeping them away. The thought gave him a little twinge of happiness right in his spark.. though he wasn't entirely sure why. He probably just liked getting so much attention and consideration from such a new friend. It was... nice.

Once it was just the two of them, they fell into a routine. Rodrigo would go to the canteens with his squad at the start of break, grab a cube, and slip away to find Hardshell at the Insecticons' quarters. Hardshell called it their “hive” and it always kind of fascinated Rodrigo. He hadn't been inside, of course, but his imagination had run wild with the idea of hundreds of Insecticons all sharing one huge, empty storage unit they'd converted into a “hive.” He'd get Hardshell to show it to him one of these days, but for the time being, he just enjoyed spending time with the Insecticon.

Most of the time they would just walk through the corridors together; Rodrigo would sip from his cube and they'd talked about a variety of topics. Rodrigo's favorite was when Hardshell would tell him stories of the battles he was in back on Cybertron. He must have heard about scrapping the big, green Wrecker who gave him most of his scars at least three times now, but he still loved it.

The image of Hardshell battling it out with one of those powerful Autobots- pinning the slagger down, energon spraying across his chassis as he tore apart pistons and armor with his fierce claws, blades swinging up and cutting the Insecticon but not deterring him in the slightest... it was... it was _awesome!_ Rodrigo liked the second-hand thrill he got from imagining such an amazing fight. That was probably why his core temperature went up every time he heard that story. That was probably it...

Rodrigo even found himself thinking about the Insecticon while he was on his shift. He'd get distracted, reimagining all the stories Hardshell had told him or thinking about something interesting to tell him later. You might say he'd been a bit distracted on the job, so it wasn't a surprise that his squadmates took a notice of his strange behavior. Rhonda in particular.

She started chastising him when he wasn't paying attention to Rudy's commands and she had to repeat herself, or when he didn't collect all the energon crystals in his area because he just hadn't been paying attention. He honestly didn't mean to, but Rhonda got annoyed with him regardless.

Whatever. It was just a few harmless mistakes. He did a good job most of the time, so she had no reason to complain! She kept on doing it, of course. And eventually, Rhonda started getting nosy too. She would ask him why he'd always leave during break. Where was he even going? They never saw him anymore except on shift. What was up with that? They were friends, right?

That seemed to do the trick. Yeah, they _were_ friends, and it wasn't really fair to ignore them or keep them out of the loop... so he'd just have to tell them about Hardshell. Delicately, of course. He remembered what happened with Steve and Wendy... whom he hadn't even spoken to since that incident. Oh sure, he'd see Steve in passing between shifts, but the mech usually just gave him this _look_. It was like pitying and concern all bundled into this one awful expression. Which Rodrigo wasn't even sure how he pulled off because the guy was freakin' _always_ wearing his mask. It was weird.

Anyway, he'd have to be careful to not have a repeat performance of that debacle. And as he walked along the corridor with his squad, he realized he wasn't actually sure how to go about telling them what he'd been up to.

As they reached the canteens, he grabbed his cube and tried to break off again, hoping to scurry away before they noticed so he could think about some more for next time. Rhonda wasn't having it, though. She grabbed the mech by his arm and pulled him back.

“Don't go running off on us,” she scolded as she led him back towards their table. “Come on, just spend _one_ break with your friends!”

Rodrigo shrugged at sat down next to Rudy. Oh well. It was probably best to get it over with... Though he didn't get to it right away. The conversation started out with some idle gossip and just went from there. And it might be a little awkward for him to just blurt out “Oh hey I'm friends with an Insecticon by the way. He's really nice.” in the middle of a conversation about how TO-02 was skimming energon off his mine's stock. So he didn't bring it up yet. He'd get to it...

As they continued on about how everyone in mine NRY-07 was probably in on the scam anyway, those bunch of slaggers, Rodrigo heard his name called out. He looked up as TC-09 approached.

“Hey, Rodrigo!” she repeated, standing at the head of the table, her digits drawing tiny circles into the metal. “I uh... I haven't seen you around in awhile. How've you been?”

“Oh yeah... I'm alright. I've just been, uh... I've been keeping busy.” No, it would be weird to bring it up suddenly in that context too... Slag he was _never_ going to find a way to slip this into the conversation, was he?!

“That's good!” she lowered her gaze to the table. Noticing the other three of his squad had stopped talking to look at her with interested optics as well. “I just um... well, I came up with a human name for myself, too.” she said, finally looking up again. “It's Tracy... It's kinda dumb. I dunno...”

“No, I like it!” Rodrigo said quickly. “It's a cute name.”

Her facial plates flushed with heat at the compliment and Tracy smiled. “Hahaa... T-thanks!” she giggled, looking down again. “It's a fun idea to have human names. It's cool you shared it with everyone... I really li- WE. _We_ really like it. Everyone that is...”

“Yeah... Thanks, Tracy.” Rodrigo smiled back at her, though for more than just her response. Their human names had gone over a lot better than Steve and Wendy had thought it would, hadn't it? And Steve had gotten him all worried about that at first too! It was silly of him to be so afraid to share with his friends. They were his friends, after all! And he had Tracy to thank for remind him of that.

At hearing her new name used, Tracy giggled again and excused herself, looking a bit flustered. Rodrigo watched her scurry off, then looked back to his three squadmates, feeling much more confident. He could tell them now, he was sure.

Before he could say anything though, Rudy spoke up. “Ohh, that's _adorable!_ ” she whispered, looking after Tracy. “She's totally got a thing for you, Rodrigo.”

“What? Really?” Rhonda asked, glancing between Rodrigo and Rudy. “I mean, I didn't assume that whole thing was because of a crush... she's just _always_ been kinda awkward, right?”

“Pfft... yeah, like _you're_ so great at picking up hints...” Randal grumbled into his cube.

Rhonda responded with a quick elbow to his arm, making him spill a bit of energon down his chin. Further emphasizing that, yes, she really _was_ terrible at picking up hints. Rudy quickly got back on subject.

“You should talk to her some more, Rodrigo!” she insisted. “I bet she'd like that.”

Rodrigo glanced over to where Tracy had disappeared into the crowd and mumbled an agreement. Yeah, that would probably make Tracy pretty happy. Though, he couldn't really say the same for himself... well, Tracy was _nice_ and all, and he liked her, but...

“I dunno...” he grumbled, looking back at his energon cube. “I guess I'm not really interested in her.”

“Oh really?” Rudy shrugged her shoulder plating. It kind of sounded like she was pretending to be surprised... “That's too bad,” she continued. “Well, you should probably tell her at least.”

“How come, though?” Rhonda spoke up, tapping the table with her servo. “Is it just _her_ or... y'know. There's someone else?”

Now it was Randal's turn to elbow her. “Stop it! You said you weren't gonna ask.” he whispered.

“Oh come on, we _all_ wanna know!” Rhonda glared at him, then turned her attention back to Rodrigo. “Is that where you've been sneaking off to? Did you _meet_ somebody?”

Rodrigo had been a little puzzled listening to this exchange, but it all clicked into place upon hearing that last question. “OH!” he raised his servos defensively, “No no no, y-you've got it all wrong. It's nothing like that! I mean,” he paused, getting a grip on his cube again. Here it was, the perfect opportunity to tell them... “no it's... it's nothing romantic, I've just been...”

He stopped again. Glancing down at his servos he vented heavily. “Actually, do you guys wanna see where I've been going?” This might be better. They'd understand better if they could just see for themselves... They'd realize how amazing Hardshell was if they could just talk to him.

It was just like with the human names. They'd accept it. They'd even grow to like it! That's what Rodrigo kept telling himself as he led his friends down the Nemesis corridors. They kept asking him where he was taking them, but he repeated that they'd just have to see. He wanted them to see first. They had to see Hardshell.

Finally, they rounded one last corner and Rodrigo spotted Hardshell up ahead, waiting patiently in their meeting spot. Seeing him there just made Rodrigo feel so much lighter, like all the worries he'd had just a moment before were lifted away. The Vehicon hurried forward, waving a bit as he approached.

“Hi, Hardshell! Sorry I'm late,” he said, not able to contain a smile. “I just had to... well, I brought my friends to-” he cut himself off suddenly as he looked back. The other three had not followed him down the hallway. They had frozen in place at that last corner and were staring at the pair of them. They did not look pleased.

Aw scrap, this couldn't be happening again, could it?! Rodrigo glanced up at Hardshell with an apologetic smile, “Um, sorry uh... j-just give me a sec...” He turned and quickly went back down the hall to his squadmates. “You guys okay?” He mumbled, “I mean... okay, I know he's a little different, but if you just give Hardshell a chance-”

“Oh Primus. Did you give it a _name_ too?” Randal interrupted him, glaring past Rodrigo to the Insecticon.

“Uh, g-guys maybe you shouldn't-”

“ _Don't!_ ” Rhonda interrupted Rudy with a fierce whisper. “Do _not_ try to defend this, Rudy! I swear to the Allspark!” Then she turned her wrath on Rodrigo. “Are you seriously telling us that you've been sneaking around with an _Insecticon_?!!”

He was losing them. This was going to go just like it had with Steve and Wendy! “Rhonda _please!_ ” Rodrigo pleaded, “If you just talk to him for a minute-”

“Is there a problem?” A low growl came from behind Rodrigo. He looked around and saw Hardshell approaching.

“No, I just...” Rodrigo looked back to his squadmates. “I just wanted my friends to meet you.”

Hardshell, standing just behind Rodrigo and towering over him, looked down at the three Vehicons and nodded silently in acknowledgement.

They said nothing in response for a long moment, until finally Rhonda spoke up. “You know what,” she said suddenly, looking to Rudy and Randal. “I just remembered we were supposed to uh... we have to do that thing for RD-01 before our next shift, don't we?” The other two quickly agreed and they all practically ran back through the hallway they'd come down, leaving Rodrigo and Hardshell alone again.

Rodrigo turned to face the Insecticon, but he kept his gaze low, not meeting his optics. “Sorry about that,” he said, sounding as miserable as he felt. “I thought... I _hoped_ they'd understand, but I... I guess not.”

Hardshell gave a low, understanding growl and started down the corridor. “The others of your kind are not as intelligent as you are, it seems.”

Rodrigo stepped into pace beside him, still keeping his gaze on the floor. “Well, no, they're not stupid or anything... I mean most of them aren't. They aren't very open minded, though.” He shrugged. “...Whatever. They're jerks.”

“You know they aren't very accepting, and yet you are still upset by their reaction.” Hardshell halted very suddenly and looked down at the Vehicon. Rodrigo stopped as well, finally looking up. They just stood there, staring into each others' optics for a moment until Hardshell let out another quiet growl. Then he transformed to his insect mode and stepped up to Rodrigo. “Get on,” he growled.

This was new. Rodrigo hesitated for a moment, wondering if this was really okay. But Hardshell had told him to, and so he climbed up, throwing one leg over the side of the Insecticon and sitting just behind where his first set of legs connected to his thorax. Once he was seated firmly in place, Hardshell started shuffling down the hall again in his Insect mode.

“I don't like to see you so upset,” he growled. “Shall I have a _word_ with those Vehicons?”

“No. That'd just make it worse,” Rodrigo mumbled, leaning forward. “I just... I don't know.” he let out a low vent. “I expected that to go better is all... It's okay, though. I like being with you more than them, anyway.”

“You should not dismiss the company of your hivemates so quickly,” Hardshell replied. “They are part of your work force, after all. To be understanding of those in your hive is important... They will come around.”

“Yeah, maybe...” Rodrigo smiled and leaned forward further, resting his helm on the back of Hardshell's. “Thanks, Hardshell. You always say the right stuff...”

The Insecticon replied with a few appreciative clicks of his mandibles, and then asked if he should pick up where he left off in his last story to which Rodrigo offered an enthusiastic _slag yeah!_

That time he spent with Hardshell made it feel like Rodrigo hadn't a care in the world. He _loved_ listening to him talk, and this new thing where he carried him around in insect mode felt really... well, it was pretty cool. It made him feel really close to his friend... He wondered if the other Insecticons would approve. Probably not. That only made it better because Hardshell obviously didn't care.

Although, once Rodrigo left the Insecticon's company, all those worries started to creep back in. Heading down towards groundbridge control alone, he realized he was absolutely dreading that inevitable confrontation from his squadmates. And going through the portal into the mine, he felt that worry growing heavier on his spark until, by the time he actually saw the three Vehicons up ahead by their post, he thought we was going to purge his tanks he was so nervous.

He stopped in front of them and just stood there awkwardly, waiting for the tirade of accusations to fall... but it didn't. They only glanced at him before getting right to work in silence. The entire shift passed this way, all four of them working quietly, diligently at their assigned jobs. The only speaking was the occasional command or a single quiet sentence every now and then.

Rodrigo didn't really like it, but then decided that their passive-aggressive ignoring was better than being outright hostile.

At the end of what was a very long, very awkward shift, the three 'Cons hurried off without him, and he let them. They obviously weren't ready to be in his company yet, and he wasn't about to force himself on them. So he went back through the portal and headed toward the canteens alone. Along the way he thought he heard some Vehicons snickering as he passed, but... no, that was probably just his imagination... Were those whispers about _him?_ No... no, that was probably a coincidence. Once he stepped into the canteen, though, he couldn't dismiss it anymore. He was getting some very obvious stares from around the room, and some of them did not look so friendly.

They knew.

His gaze immediately flew over to his squadmates sitting across the room. They had all been staring too, but as he locked an accusing glare on them, they turned away. Those metal-grinding scrapheads! Not approving of Hardshell was one thing, but they went and told everyone else too! How could they do that to him?!

Glancing around again, Rodrigo started to actually _feel_ all the optics on him, like they were boring right into his plating. It was the worst feeling he'd ever had. He had to get out of there! He turned towards the door, hoping to slip out quietly but as he did, he very nearly walked straight into another Vehicon.

“Oh... Rodrigo.” It was Tracy. She stared into his optics for a moment, then looked away. “I, uh... I was just... I heard...” she paused for a moment, glancing up at his face again and looking very upset. Then she very quickly hurried past him further into the canteens, not bothering to finish her sentence.

Rodrigo watched her go around him in stunned silence. Tracy worked in a completely different mine than squad RD. Who _else_ knew about this?!!

Forgetting about leaving quietly, Rodrigo bolted from the room and sprinted away down the corridor! He had to find Hardshell. He would make this better. He would get rid of this awful, crushing weight he felt on his spark...

As he went flying around yet another corner, he stopped just in time to avoid colliding with a pair of soldiers. “Hey!” One of the much larger 'Cons, a Vehicon, thrust a servo forward and shoved him back. “Watch where you're going, pipsqueak!”

“S-sorry,” Rodrigo mumbled, shuffling aside to go around, “I-I was just... I'm sorry!”

He tried to go past them so he could keep looking for Hardshell, but before he could, the other soldier, an Eradicon, reached forward, hooking his servo into the plating of his upper back and dragged him back!

“Whoa, whoa, wait just a nano-klik...” He looked Rodrigo up and down carefully, and then his wings gave a short flutter of excitement. “This is him! This is the one I was telling you about!” he said, looking to his grounder friend. “The one who's got a thing for the bug!”

Rodrigo felt the energon in his system run cold. He had a very bad feeling about this.

“N-no, no you must have the wrong 'Con,” he mumbled, looking down. “I... I-I _hate_ the Insecticons!!”

“Oh, I don't think so!” The Eradicon pulled him closer, grabbing the back of his neck with his other servo, digging in with his sharp digits. “I think you're RD-10: the little green miner with the Insecticon boyfriend.”

Boyfriend? Is _that_ what they were saying? Oh slag, this was not going to end well.

Before Rodrigo could deny it again, the Eradicon whirled him around and slammed his helm into the corridor wall! Rodrigo didn't even have time to recover from the impact before he was pulled back and slammed into the metal for a second time. After the third blow, he was finally released and slid to the ground in a daze. He could just faintly hear both the soldiers laughing, but his helm hurt too much to listen to what was being said.

Then a servo grabbed his shoulder and yanked him up to his feet again. “I _said_ get up!” the Eradicon shouted, thrusting his forearm forward and pressing Rodrigo into the wall with it. “Slaggin' pervert... I can't believe scum like you is allowed to even be called a Decepticon!”

“We should teach 'im a lesson,” the Vehicon chimed in from behind.

The Eradicon's wings gave that excited twitch again. “I couldn't agree more.”

The next thing Rodrigo remembered was just a whirlwind of pain. His plating hadn't taken a beating quite as bad as this one since... he didn't even know. He'd been attacked by Autobots before, just like most 'Cons, but at least Autobots stopped once you went down. This didn't stop, though. The blows just kept coming, long after he'd stopped struggling and just curled up on the floor. He begged for it to end. He cried and pleaded but his pleas fell on offlined audio receptors.

It had already gone on for far too long, and who knows how long it would have kept going, until finally they were interrupted when another miner came sprinting down the hallway and launched himself at the two soldiers! The initial shock of the attack only lasted a few moments, but it was enough that the Vehicon was tackled to the ground and was pummeled in the face multiple times by the miner's furious servos. However, the Eradicon went to his friend's aid quickly and grabbed the miner, throwing him off and into the wall.

Rodrigo dared a glance up and was shocked when he recognized his hero as Steve! He was sure Steve was still mad at him like everyone else was now, but his friend had still come to his rescue. Unfortunately, the two soldiers had now turned their attention over to him, and they appeared eager to dole out even more punishment.

However, they both froze when another voice spoke up, cold as ice and brimming with rage. “ _Don't you fragging_ touch _him._ ”

The two soldiers looked back around and spotted the lone Vehicon standing just a ways down the hall, both blasters primed to fire and aimed right at their helms. Wow. Rodrigo had never seen Wendy so angry!

The Eradicon shifted uncomfortably as he stared down the blaster. “Frag... we're just having a bit of fun. Y'don't have to go make it serious bringing guns into it.”

“Get lost.” Wendy hissed, keeping his blasters up. “Or _I'll_ have a bit of fun blowing both your helms off!”

Grumbling angrily to themselves, the soldiers finally turned and stormed down the hall away from the trio. Once they'd turned the far corner out of sight, Wendy's face finally relaxed and he hurried to go help Steve up.

“Phew... glad they bought that.” he mumbled, transforming his blasters away. “Probably would've gone into burnout if I had to actually fight those slaggers...”

Steve allowed Wendy to help pull him up, then rushed over to Rodrigo, still lying on the floor.

“Rodrigo... slag, are you okay?” he grabbed his friend's shoulders and helped him up into a sitting position, gingerly wiping off the energon dripping down his chin.

Rodrigo ran a digit across a particularly deep crack in the glass on his chassis before he moaned, “No...” he couldn't stop it, he felt coolant pooling in his optics. “You were r-right, Steve. I... I sh-should've listened to you, I should have n-never-”

He suddenly felt himself being pulled into a hug. “It's okay, Rodrigo,” Wendy murmured, “We're here for you. You're safe now.”

Coolant started streaming down his face as he returned the hug. “I...” he started, his vocalizer hitching up slightly. “I have t-to stop seeing Hardshell... d... don't I?”

It was silent in the corridor for a long minute, only punctuated by the soft sounds of Rodrigo venting as he pressed his face into Wendy's shoulder.

Finally, Steve answered. “I'm sorry, Rodrigo...”


	4. Chapter 4

Once he had calmed down a bit, Steve helped Rodrigo up and they got him to the medical bay. His entire break was then spent lying still on a medical berth so Wendy could patch him up.

As he had dents popped and cracks welded, he felt something tighten deep in his tanks. Wendy had disabled his pain receptors to repair him so he shouldn't be able to feel that, should he? It took him a while to figure out, but he realized it the sensation wasn't due to damage from being kicked around like an empty cube. No, he was feeling this way because of Hardshell.

Rodrigo had been attacked ruthlessly just because he was friends with the Insecticon. Was this just going to keep happening? He didn't know how many poundings like that he had left in him. But just the idea of not being around Hardshell anymore was almost too much to bear. Ugh, and _telling him_ that they couldn't see each other was going to be so awful. Even with his receptors turned off, Rodrigo was in pain just from thinking about it!

This whole thing was such a mess. He'd be better off just laying in the med bay forever until everyone forgot about him. Maybe even longer than that. The idea was tempting...

Unfortunately, this plan was foiled as the start of shift came and went and he realized Steve was still waiting for him. Rodrigo tried to tell him to go, but he shook his helm, insisting that he would be there for his friend. Except that just made him feel even worse; he definitely didn't want Steve to get in trouble. So, probably before he should have, Rodrigo told Wendy that that was enough, and had Steve take him to groundbridge control and back to work. Wendy wasn't really satisfied with the repairs, but after some arguing, he finally agreed to let Rodrigo leave.

As they got close to the entrance, Rodrigo was tracing his digits along the cracks in the windshield on his chassis. Their breaks weren't especially long, so Wendy hadn't had time to replace the glass... he hadn't had time to fix a _lot_ of things, but the remaining damage wasn't really painful. It was mostly just cosmetic. But with that being the case, he must've looked like total scrap. Everyone would probably ask him about it too. He definitely wasn't looking forward to that.

“So...” Steve spoke up as they made their way down the hallway. “That Insecticon... he's in your mine, isn't he?”

“Yes.” Rodrigo mumbled his reply, careful not to meet his friend's gaze.

“Well then, you should probably let him know today... about not being together anymore.”

The knot in Rodrigo's tanks tightened.

“I don't mean to make you feel worse,” Steve continued, “But it just... it might be best to do it there. It's a more public place with... y'know... soldiers and everything... I'm just saying. Better safe than sorry.”

Rodrigo said nothing. What _could_ he say to that? Steve had already convinced himself that Hardshell was a violent brute, and Rodrigo really didn't have the strength to argue at this point. He just nodded in reply. That seemed to satisfy Steve, and the two continued on in silence.

Just as they were about to step into groundbridge control, they heard yelling echo from inside the room. They both paused just outside the door to listen, and then let out a simultaneous groan as they recognized the voice: AA-00.

Some poor, unfortunate spark in there was getting ripped into, which meant that AA-00 was in a _bad_ mood. To be fair, though, most of their moods seemed to be bad ones...

Rodrigo grabbed Steve by the arm and tried to pull him back the way they came. “Uh m-maybe we should just come back later?” he whispered, “I'm not... I mean, I don't want Double A asking me about... what happened.”

“They'll find out sooner or later.” Steve mumbled, offering a short shrug.

“I know, but I just... I don't wanna talk to them about...” Rodrigo just let his sentence trail off as he looked down at the floor.

Steve let out a quiet huff through his vents, then dared a quick glance past the door frame into the room. “Okay, here's an idea,” he turned back around, “I'll go in there and distract AA-00, then once they leave to deal with me, you can go in and get to your mine without having to talk with 'em.”

“No! No, come on, you don't have to do that!" Rodrigo grabbed ahold of his friend.

"Primus, calm down." Steve shook his arm out of the grip. "It's not like I'm taking a bullet for you or anything... Not a literal one."

"I just... I don't want you getting in trouble for me.”

“I'll be _fine_! I can take whatever punishment they can dish out. Besides, I kinda owe you one for being such a jerk last time.” Before Rodrigo could protest further, Steve whirled back around and disappeared through the doorway.

Ughh, maybe Rodrigo _should_ have just stayed in the med bay forever. Despite the knot in his tanks now feeling even tighter, he crept up to the door, peeking his helm just around the frame so he could see. AA-00 was still yelling at some hapless 'Con who was stacking energon cubes on a cart and hadn't noticed Steve yet.

“Don't look so miserable, TO-02, you had this coming! Maybe fueling on dregs for the next decacycle will make you think twice before you get the urge to start skimming your mine's stock... You know, there's a _reason_ we ration energon the way we do. You ought to know since you work in the mines. Although I use the term "work" rather generously. How long did you expect to-”

They cut their sentence short as they spotted Steve approaching. With an irritated flutter of their wings, they turned to face him. “Oh, and look who _decided_ to show up for work today! ST-03, I'm sure you have a _damn_ good reason why you're,” they paused to glance down at their datapad, “seventeen kliks late for your shift- _Hey!!_ I didn't tell you to stop! Keep loading that energon!” they snapped over at TO-02 before looking expectantly back at Steve. “...Well?”

Steve just shrugged his shoulder plating, linking his servos behind his back. “No, not really, sir. I just lost track of time.”

AA-00 didn't respond for a moment, apparently shocked at getting such an indifferent reply without so much as an apology tacked on. The shock wore of quickly though, and their wings stiffened in anger. “Is this some kind of a _joke_ to you?!” they shrieked. “You might think it's fun to skip out on work with your buddy, WY-05, but if you don't get your act toge-”

“Actually sir, he goes by _Wendy_ now.”

Oh wow, Steve was really pushing it. Rodrigo could see AA-00's visor flash with rage all the way over in the doorway where he was hiding.

“Why you-!! ...That's right, I had almost forgotten!” AA-00 stepped up to the smaller miner, looming over him. “I have _you_ to thank for all these stupid human names floating around, don't I, _Steve_?” They lifted the datapad in one servo and held it up for him to see. “Some of these idiots are even filing reports using them now! As if it isn't enough trouble keeping tabs on every Vehicon on this ship without them having twoslagging names!!”

“I-I don't know, sir...” Steve's vocalizer seemed to waver just a bit as he spoke this time. “A little extra to remember shouldn't be a problem for a 'Con as smart as you-”

Steve barely got to finish his sentence before he was smacked right across the face by AA-00's datapad! “How _dare_ you talk back to me!?” Their vocalizer was absolutely seething with anger. Apparently they had reached the end of their patience. A moment later, Steve was seized by the back of his neck and spun around as AA-00 led him towards the door. “I think you and I need to have a little chat about respecting authority. Then we'll see how-”

Oh scrap!! Rodrigo darted away from the door frame just as AA-00's face turned towards him. Maybe they hadn't seen him...

“W-wait, sir! Aren't you going to-?”

Before Steve could finish protesting, AA-00 had reached around the corner and grabbed ahold of Rodrigo, dragging him into the room. Being yanked around so suddenly made him cry out in pain, grasping the arm that had been pulled. That _really_ hurt! He might have torn one of his fresh welds. Maybe he shouldn't have had Wendy reactivate his pain receptors.

Rubbing his servo on his sore shoulder, he hesitantly looked up to AA-00. The Eradicon kept their grip on his arm as they looked him over from helm to pede, quietly taking in all the damage.

After a long minute of silence, they let out a soft vent and mumbled something barely audible that sounded like "Of course..." Then they finally turned their gaze over to Steve. Their vocalizer was much calmer and the threatening tone gone when they spoke again. "That will be all, ST-03. I'll handle this from here."

"But-!"

"Need I remind you, you are still late for your shift.” AA-00's visor flared, just daring him to protest again.

Even Steve wasn't that brave, though. With an apologetic glance over at Rodrigo, he turned and hurried towards the groundbridge. After a quick command to the engineer, it whirred to life and Steve disappeared through the portal.

As he did, AA-00 led Rodrigo further into the room by his arm, but more gently this time. They released him to make a few quick strokes on their datapad, and then stored it in their subspace pocket all the while grumbling quietly. “-can't believe Megatron thought keeping those bugs around was a good idea... I just knew something like this would happen. Especially when I heard you'd been palling around with one of them.”

Rodrigo tensed up. “You heard about that too?!”

“I hear about _everything_. If a Vehicon is causing trouble in my ranks, you can bet I'll know about it soon enough.” AA-00 looked up, meeting Rodrigo's gaze. “Honestly though, RD-10, you shouldn't be hanging around the Insecticons. What did you _think_ was going to happen?”

So AA-00 already knew about the soldiers attacking him? Well, if that was the case, at least he wouldn't have to explain what happened... That was sort of a relief. Rodrigo shifted his gaze to the floor, still rubbing the welds on his shoulder. “I just... I wanted to prove they aren't as bad as everyone says.”

“Yeah, and look where it got you.” AA-00 took ahold of his arm again. The portal was just powering down as they led him over to it. They called out coordinates to the engineer on the catwalks and a minute later, the groundbridge switched on again. “Come on, then.” AA-00 started towards it with Rodrigo in tow.

“What-? Sir, wh-why are you coming?” Despite his confusion, he still allowed AA-00 to lead him forward.

“Because it's my job to look out for all the Vehicons, and sometimes that means getting you _out_ of trouble.”

Rodrigo wasn't entirely sure what they meant, but he followed them through the bridge anyway. As they both stepped out into the mine, he looked around. They were down on the bottom level near the elevator and communications hub, so that meant... he slowly glanced around and finally set his optics on Hardshell. The Insecticon was just across the cavern and accompanied by Shrapnel and Kickback, all three were standing on guard duty in front of energon storage.

Oh Primus, the knot in his tanks- he felt like he was going to purge all over AA-00. At least Hardshell wasn't looking over at him yet... He hadn't thought of it before, but now that he was faced with it, he realized that he _really_ didn't want Hardshell to see him like this.

AA-00 noticed his discomfort and followed his gaze over to the Insecticon. They tightened their grip on his arm to get his attention. “That's the one, right?” they asked. “What was his name?”

“Hardshell.” Rodrigo mumbled his response, looking down at his pedes.

“Alright, you wait right there. I'll handle this.” AA-00 let go of his arm and started towards the Insecticons.

What!? Was _AA-00_ going to tell Hardshell to stop talking to him? Oh scrap, they were going to be _so rude_ , he just knew it. He could even imagine the tone of voice they would use. This was going to be a _disaster_!

“No wait!” Rodrigo grabbed ahold of AA-00 again, trying to hold them back. An instant later, he realized what he was doing and quickly released his superior. “I-I mean... I should... probably do it myself, shouldn't I? This sort of thing, it's better to do it in person...”

AA-00 just stared at him blankly for a moment, a little confused. “That's brave of you... but seriously, you're an _idiot._ ” they turned to go again. “Just stay here and let me do all the talking, alright? It'll be fine."

Rodrigo wanted to say something else, to pull AA-00 back and just stop this whole awful exchange from happening at all... But he didn't. He _couldn't_. He could only watch.

As AA-00 got closer to the Insecticons, Rodrigo suddenly felt himself backing away. He was just taking tiny steps back towards the elevator, not even really meaning to. Maybe he should leave. Would AA-00 be mad if he just went back to work? They seemed to realize how upset he was, so they might understand...

Before he could really decide one way or the other, he accidentally backed right into another Vehicon.

“Oh! I'm sor-” Rodrigo stopped suddenly as he looked back. The Vehicon he'd walked into, a soldier, looked a bit confused. And his EM field... Rodrigo drew back. His EM field felt... _weird_. Looking the mech up and down slowly, he quietly finished his apology. “Uh... s-sorry.”

The soldier barely even seemed to take notice of Rodrigo, just offering a short acknowledgment and then wandering off again, looking around like it was the first time he'd ever set foot in the place. Rodrigo watched him as he circled back around the elevator. He kept shooting glances over towards energon storage where AA-00 was talking to Hardshell...

Oh right, _Hardshell_. Rodrigo quickly looked back, just in time to see AA-00 catch the Insecticon's attention. They were too far away to be able to make out the words, but he could hear AA-00 saying something. They sounded angry... Just as Rodrigo was thinking of getting out of there again, he froze as Hardshell turned his helm away from AA-00 and his gaze fell on Rodrigo.

For a moment, they just stared at each other, both too surprised to make a move. Finally, Hardshell let out a vicious snarl that even Rodrigo could hear from across the cavern, and then started towards the Vehicon! Before he could get even a few steps, AA-00 had whirled around and was standing right in his way with their arms up to stop him... Of course, it didn't stop him at all. Hardshell grabbed ahold of the Eradicon and flung them to the side! Then he continued on his way while Kickback and Shrapnel roared in laughter behind him.

Unlike his hivemates, Hardshell didn't look amused at all. As he approached Rodrigo, he could actually feel the Insecticon's anger radiating through his EM field. He stopped just in front of Rodrigo and slowly looked up and down his frame. After a moment, he met optics with the Vehicon.

“What happened?” It was a demand. “Who did this to you?!”

Rodrigo felt a shudder run through his frame as Hardshell growled at him. He sounded really mad... But he forced himself not to look down, trying desperately to keep his vents from hitching up as he started to answer.

“I... It's not-”

“ _HEY!!_ ” Before Rodrigo could say anything else, he was shoved aside and away from Hardshell. When he looked back, AA-00 was standing between the two, glaring up at the snarling Insecticon with a single sharp digit pointed right in his face. “You stay away from him! I tolerate you lot working in the mines, but I will _not_ stand by and let you attack my miners!!”

For a moment, Rodrigo was confused. Sure, Hardshell had looked angry just then, but that could hardly be called an _attack_.

Hardshell's wings flared out behind him indignantly. “Are you suggesting that _I_ am responsible for-?!”

“Don't try to deny it!” AA-00 continued to glare up at him as they continued. “I know you two have been... _cavorting_. But now it stops! If I ever hear word of anything like this happening again-"

Suddenly it all clicked into place: AA-00 thought _Hardshell_ did this to him!!

"No! No wait!!" Rodrigo leapt forward, grabbing at AA-00's shoulder plates to interrupt them. "It wasn't him! It wasn't Hardshell that hurt me!"

AA-00 whirled around, probably meaning to shout at him, but they hesitated for a moment. Then, with a quick glance back at Hardshell, they took ahold of Rodrigo's arm and pulled him to the side and away from the Insecticon.

"Are you just saying that because you're in front of him now?" They spoke in hushed tones, presumably to keep Hardshell from overhearing. They continued, "You don't have to be afraid; you can tell me honestly."

"No, it wasn't him. _Really_!" Rodrigo insisted, not bothering to keep his vocalizer quiet. "There was..." He paused, looking down at the ground. "Two soldiers, they cornered me and they-"

"Other Vehicons did this?" AA-00 interrupted. "Then why were you going to let me-?" They stopped, bringing a servo to rub irritably on their helm. "Ughhh, nevermind... Ok well, soldiers are easier to deal with than Insecticons, anyway. Who was it? Can you give me designations?"

"Uh I think... Well, I-I'm not sure, I don't know how to tell-"

"Of course not..." AA-00 grumbled. Then they turned back around to face Hardshell, "There's been a misunderstanding, apparently." They said without even a hint of apology. "You can return to your post."

Hardshell didn't leave, though. He let out a low rumbling growl and looked over at Rodrigo. AA-00 may not have understood the meaning, but he did.

"Uh s-sir..." he mumbled, "could I speak to Hardshell alone really quick?"

AA-00 glanced back at him and gave him a clearly disapproving look. However, they then turned back to glare at Hardshell. "I'll be keeping an optic on you two. Don't try anything funny!" Then to Rodrigo, "Come see me when you're finished here." And with that, they marched off towards the communication hub nearby, leaving the two of them alone.

Once they'd gone, Hardshell stepped closer, reaching forward to touch a claw to the broken glass on Rodrigo's windshield. “Will you tell me who did this to you?” his vocalizer was calmer than the last time he had asked, but there was still an undertone of anger.

“It was just... some soldiers. I don't know.” Rodrigo lowered his gaze, staring down at the claw on his chassis. He couldn't help feeling ashamed that Hardshell was seeing him like this. “It doesn't matter.”

“It _does_ matter.” The claw shifted to beneath Rodrigo's chin, lifting his face up to make him look at Hardshell again. Then he moved to cup the Vehicon's face in his servo, obviously trying to be gentle. “Tell me. And I will ensure it does nothappen again!”

Rodrigo smiled behind his mask. Some small part of him had thought Hardshell was angry with _him._ But no, of course that wasn't the case! Hardshell just wanted to protect Rodrigo. He felt a warmth radiate from his spark at that thought. He leaned into the touch, reaching up to take Hardshell's claws in his own.

But then he hesitated as he remembered what this conversation was _supposed_ to be about. Suddenly he noticed how out in the open they were. Anyone in the mine could possibly be watching this and thinking all sorts of terrible things about him! There would be rumors. Everyone was going to be talking about him and those soldiers would hear about it and try to _teach him a lesson_... No! No, he couldn't take that again.

Turning his helm away from Hardshell's touch felt so awful- like he was tearing off a layer of plating. He didn't want to, but he did it. He had to.

“No, it... it's okay,” he mumbled, “It _won't_ happen again.”

Hardshell lowered his arm. “How are you so sure?” he asked, “Why did this happen in the first place?”

Because of _you._

Thank Primus Rodrigo had at least enough tact to only think it and not say it out loud... And besides, was that even true? Sure, if they hadn't become friends then there wouldn't have been any trouble, but... no, that didn't seem right. It wasn't Hardshell's fault. It was those stupid soldiers. _They_ were the ones who hurt him while Hardshell had been nothing but kind to Rodrigo. And yet, Hardshell was still the one everyone thought was dangerous. Even AA-00 had assumed it was the Insecticon who'd attacked him. This was so unfair. It was _all_ so unfair! Why should _he_ have to change? _Everyone else_ should have to change! They were the ones who were wrong!!

But then again... what hope did he really have of convincing anyone that they were wrong about the Insecticons? He couldn't even convince Steve, one of his best friends, that Hardshell wasn't dangerous. It'd be easier to just end it. It would hurt, but it would be easier... for everyone.

When Rodrigo didn't respond, Hardshell clicked his mandibles quietly and crouched down to get closer to his level. “Rodrigo. Answer me.”

The Vehicon kept his optics facing down. “It was just... They wanted...” He was having a difficult time coming up with the words. He pulled in a deep ventilation, trying to muster up what little courage he had, and finally looked up again, meeting Hardshell's gaze. “Hardshell... I need to talk to you about-”

“YOU THERE!!”

Startled by the sudden yelling, Rodrigo paused and looked around, just in time to see AA-00 corner another Vehicon up against the cavern wall. He stared for a moment before he realized it was that weird soldier he'd bumped into a few minutes earlier. AA-00 was standing close to him and saying something very intently. He couldn't hear what was being said though, so he dismissed it and turned back to Hardshell.

“Um... I was going to say...” he started again, “H-hardshell, did you... did you know n-nobody really likes that... that we're friends?”

Hardshell's reaction wasn't quite what he expected; the Insecticon growled an acknowledgement and nodded shortly. “I'm well aware.”

“Yeah...” Rodrigo glanced down at his servos, fidgeting anxiously in front of him. “And I just-”

Before Rodrigo could continue, he was interrupted once again by AA-00 shouting behind him. This time, however, it sounded like a cry of distress! Turning around again, he saw AA-00 on the ground, apparently having been flung over some machinery, and the soldier had bolted, running for a nearby passageway.

“No, stop! _STOP HIM!!!_ ” AA-00 screamed, scrambling to regain their footing.

Hardshell grabbed ahold of Rodrigo's shoulder and pushed him down and away. “Stay back!” he demanded. Then he lunged forward, galloping straight into the soldier's path and blocking his way.

The soldier quickly pivoted away, trying to get away from the Insecticon, but found his other exits suddenly blocked as two others descended on him. He stopped, clearly not wanting to try his luck with trying to get around Hardshell, Shrapnel, or Kickback. AA-00 was upright by now and was also coming after him and shouting orders to the three Insecticons.

"Don't hurt him! Let me handle this!" They then raised a servo, trying to appear calming, as they slowly approached. "KV-06? I'm AA-00, remember? ...What happened to you?"

KV-06 didn't answer the question, he instead raised his am, transforming out his blaster. "STAY BACK!!"

This earned a surprised growl from each of the Insecticons. “Are you _mad?_ ” Hardshell roared, “Put that away!”

“This is an energonmine!” AA-00 added quickly, “One stray blast could ignite the whole place and kill _all of us!!_ ”

The blaster charged with a high whine, the tip glowing red. “Then I suggest you stay back!” KV-06 repeated, keeping the weapon pointed directly at AA-00.

“Okay okay!” AA-00 kept their servos up and planted their pedes firmly to show they had stopped moving. “See? It's alright. I just want to talk.”

“I'm not interested.” KV-06 gestured over at the Hardshell who was blocking the closest exit. “Now tell your bugs to get out of my way!”

“No, listen KV-06, you were-”

“Don't tell me _no!_ ” The Vehicon shifted his blaster up slightly as it continued to whine with charge.

“Listen to me!” AA-00 insisted more firmly. “There was an attack on your mine; mine TXC-02, remember? You disappeared after that... Just tell me, what happened? Did the Autobots capture you? Do you remember?"

He didn't respond, only continued sending anxious glances in the direction of the exit.

AA-00 dared to take a step forward. "Please, KV-06, I just want to hel-"

"I SAID _STAY BACK!!_ "

A single bolt shot from the blaster, catching AA-00 square in the chassis! The second they went down, the three Insecticons pounced.

Rodrigo had retreated back and crouched behind some energon processing machinery for cover. He was watching intently up until the soldier was descended on by Hardshell and the others. He turned his optics away as they did. Not that he was adverse to watching something gory, quite the contrary actually, but he didn't necessarily like when it was to another Decepticon. And a Vehicon at that... Looking around, he noticed that a lot of others had stopped working to watch the spectacle as well. Not just on the ground floor, either. Turning his gaze upwards he could see helms peering down at them on every level of the mine. It crossed his mind that watching them dismember one of the Vehicons was probably just going to make everyone dislike the Insecticons even more. Even though it wasn't even their fault. After all, this soldier _obviously_ had a screw loose. He'd fired on AA-00 for Primus' sake!

Once he remembered his superior had just been shot, Rodrigo thought to look back and see if they were alright. However, before he could get a good look, he had to duck as KV-06 was sent flying overhead and crashed into the cavern wall just a ways behind him!

He took a moment to groan painfully as he clutched at the wall, trying to get himself upright. He was covered in scratches and dents, some of them looking rather nasty, but considering he'd been attacked by _three_ Insecticons, Rodrigo thought he had probably gotten off pretty easy. They must have been trying to listen to AA-00's previous order to not hurt him... “Hurt” probably being a relative term for them.

In the distance, a screech-like laughter, which could only be Kickback, could be heard drawing closer as the Insecticons approached, eager to resume their assault. KV-06 heard it as well, and looked back around, his masked face staring over the machinery at the Insecticons. Then his gaze dipped lower and fixed on Rodrigo, crouching down just in front of him and staring right back.

After he'd laid optics on the miner, KV-06 suddenly rushed forward, pushing himself off the wall, and lunging for Rodrigo. He scrambled to try and escape, but he wasn't quick enough. Before he could take even two steps, an arm wrapped tightly around his neck, constricting his vents and holding him still. Not a second later, the glowing red tip of a blaster was shoved into the side of his face!

“Don't come any closer!” KV-06 shouted, holding Rodrigo up in front of himself as a shield.

This stopped the Insecticons in their tracks. Shrapnel and Kickback both glanced over at Hardshell, looking for instruction.

Hardshell only stared on silently for a moment, apparently stunned by this new turn of events. Finally, he tilted his helm lower to glower at the soldier and hissed, "Release him... and I will allow you to live."

KV-06 pulled Rodrigo closer. "I'm not afraid of you stupid machines!"

Despite being a bit distracted by the blaster in his face, the strange use of _machine_ as an insult didn't escape Rodrigo's attention. That was a funny thing to call an Insecticon... It wasn't like the Vehicons were any less mechanical than they were.

KV-06 proceeded to begin backing away alongside the energon processor they were next to, still holding Rodrigo against himself as a shield. “Try anything and I'll blow this one's head off!!” he shouted, “Don't think I won't!”

Hardshell's wings flared out behind him angrily, “You are making a gravemistake.” His vocalizer was dark and threatening. “Release him. NOW!!”

The blaster began to hum as it charged up. “Do I need to illustrate my point?” KV-06 pressed the tip of the gun against Rodrigo's helm. He could feel the heat radiating from the weapon's barrel as it prepared to fire.

Rodrigo was almost too afraid to even think at that point. He was going to get blown to the Pit if someone didn't do something soon, he just knew it!! Forcing his optics away from the glowing charge next to his helm, he looked to Hardshell. The Insecticon appeared angry and worried. Mostly angry. He wasn't moving, but he was letting out a constant low hiss to show his displeasure. It didn't appear as though he intended to take any further action, though. Hardshell just continued to glare at the Vehicon as he backed further and further away, taking Rodrigo along with him.

“Hardshell-?”

“Shut up you bucket of bolts!!”

The grip around Rodrigo's neck tightened, choking off his vents and his vocalizer even further. Hardshell took an angry step forward at this his growl growing noticeably louder, but still he didn't move to save Rodrigo. And he realized that he wasn't _going_ to, either. It was much too risky.

It crossed Rodrigo's processor that maybe heshould try to fight back. Would that be stupid? The soldier was bigger and stronger than he was, after all. Plus there was the whole gun to his head thing still going on...

They were nearly clear of the machinery now, and KV-06 was making glances over at the cavern's exit. That made Rodrigo think, how far exactly did he intend to take his hostage? And if he _did_ manage to escape the mine, what would he do with Rodrigo then? Judging by the actions he'd seen so far, it would probably not be a peaceful parting.

Rodrigo glanced around quickly. There were a number of other Vehicons watching from a distance, but they didn't seem inclined to help either. Nobody else was going to do something... _He_ had to do something. He had to rescue _himself_. And once he'd decided that, like with most of his decisions, he didn't think too much more about it. He just _did it._

Rodrigo thrust up his arm into the blaster, pushing it away from his helm and tried to twist around and out of the soldier's grip. The sudden motion caught KV-06 off guard, and it took him a moment before he seemed to register that his hostage was trying to escape. However, his surprise wore off quickly, and he fought back, forcing Rodrigo to twist back around and trapping the miner against his own frame again. Rodrigo continued to struggle, managing to keep the blaster from pointing directly at his helm again. The grip around his neck was desperately tight at this point, though, and it was difficult to keep his servos from instinctively flying to the arm choking him and trying to pull it away.

As he continued trying to fight off KV-06, a distinct, warbling shriek rang out in the cavern. Rodrigo dared a glance away and saw Hardshell had taken the opportunity to rush them!

Letting out a slew of expletives Rodrigo didn't understand, KV-06 began backing away even faster, still dragging his struggling captive along with him. Finally, he managed to free his blaster from Rodrigo's grip, but rather than take aim at him again, he raised the weapon towards the charging Insecticon!

"NO!!"

Not wanting Hardshell to be hurt, Rodrigo, without really thinking, grabbed the gun and pushed as hard as he could to the side. The shot missed Hardshell completely. But it hit the energon processor dead on! Before Rodrigo had even realized what happened, teal flames erupted from the machine's panels as the laser blast seared through the metal to the energon within.

Just as he was about to be engulfed in the expanding fire, Rodrigo's vision of the spectacle was blocked off as Hardshell slammed into him! Pulling the Vehicon into a tight embrace, they tumbled to the cavern floor as the explosion consumed them both.

It all happened so fast. Pinned between Hardshell and the rock floor, Rodrigo couldn't see anything past the Insecticon's massive arms wrapped tightly around him. But despite the protection that provided from most of the fire, his system was overwhelmed by the massive impact from the explosion itself.

He was having a difficult time of processing. He still couldn't see anything. Although he could make out some screaming, but it seemed like it was coming from a distance. And he could hear the crackling and a few more short bursts of fire from the ruined energon processor... also, there were a few faint screeches that sounded vaguely like an Insecticon. That wasn't Hardshell, was it? Oh no, he'd taken the brunt of that explosion, hadn't he? Was he okay?!

It took all his strength, but Rodrigo managed to shift a servo up to touch at the massive chassis bearing down on him. He tried to push, wanting to get some sort of reaction out of the Insecticon.

“Hardshell...?” His vocalizer sounded staticky.

He got no response. But before he could do anything more, his systems gave out and Rodrigo dropped into stasis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KV-06's deal will be hinted at a bit more in the next and last chapter.. but if you've already read my other story in this series, [Breaking Barriers](http://archiveofourown.org/works/619641/chapters/1118128), you probably already know what happened to him.  
> I intend for the consequences of KV-06's intrusion to feed into the rest of the series, but doesn't matter much to understand the singular plot of this story. So don't worry about it if you're not especially keen on reading the other stories.


	5. Chapter 5

When Rodrigo was finally able to online his optics again, the first thing he realized was that his entire frame was beset by a terrible, aching, pain. The second thing was the ceiling: it wasn't a rock cavern, it was the purple metal of the Nemesis. And the next thing was that he must have been groaning or making static because no sooner had he regained consciousness, someone called his name and came rushing over to his side.

“Rodrigo!”

He recognized the voice of Wendy even before he came into view. It took a little time to connect the fact that Wendy's presence most certainly meant they were in the medbay. That was about as far as his processor could connect things for those first few minutes, though.

Wendy had started fussing around his neck and asking question after question without even waiting for responses. “Can you hear me? Where does it hurt? Does it hurt when I press _here_? Is it really bad? Should I deactivate your pain receptors? I can do that if you want; should I go get my tools?”

Rodrigo didn't really have the processing power to respond properly, so he just raised a servo and rubbed it against his throbbing helm. “Unnnhh. Wendy, what...? What happened?”

“Do you not remember?” Wendy lifted his servo away to take a closer look at his helm. “That could be because of the shock from the explosion. Sometimes when your system gets hit like that, it can cause you to-” He continued explaining something sort of medical phenomenon having to do with shock and electrical feedback on processing power, but Rodrigo had stopped listening after the word 'explosion.'

That's right. He remembered the explosion... It was starting to come back to him now. Down in the mine some crazed Vehicon had attacked him and when he fought back there was an explosion and... _Hardshell!!_

Rodrigo bolted upright, nearly smacking helms with Wendy in the process. “Hardshell! Where's Hardshell? Is he okay?!!”

“Oh...” Wendy stepped back, putting on that usual, anxious look he got while talking about the Insecticons. “He's, um... he's right through th-”

Once Wendy lifted his arm to point, Rodrigo didn't waste another second listening. He leapt off the berth he was lying on and dashed to the partition separating them from the rest of the medbay, flinging it aside. He stumbled into the main chamber of the bay with Wendy right on his heels, trying to ensure he didn't fall but hesitant to hold him back.

“Rodrigo! Be careful, you're still healing!.”

He could barely even process the scolding, because at that moment Rodrigo set optics on a black-charred frame laid across one of the medical berths on the other end of the medbay. A jolt of panic ran through his spark at the sight, and before he even knew it, he was halfway across the room. He didn't make it much farther than that, though, because a powerful claw came down on his chassis holding him back.

“Where do you think you're going _going?!_ ”

Shrapnel pushed Rodrigo back, stepping into his way to prevent him from passing. Rodrigo weakly tried to push past, even just to get a glance around him, but the Insecticon stood fast, glaring down at him.

“You don't get to see him, you parasite _parasite._ It's _your_ fault this happened in the first place _place!_ ”

“Aw give the slagger a break,” Kickback's voice chimed in from the side. Rodrigo didn't bother looking over to see him, though. He was still intent on getting over to Hardshell. “It's probably too stupid to realize what it was doing.”

“I don't care _care!_ ” The grip on Rodrigo tightened. Rodrigo tried to twist away as Shrapnel's claws dug into his plating but the Insecticon held him fast. “If you think I'm going to let this walking scrap heap get away with-”

“Hey!”

Rodrigo was suddenly pulled out of Shrapnel's grip, though the sudden movement caused the claws to slice at his plating rather painfully. Looking back around he saw it was Steve who had taken a hold of his arm. He hadn't even realized Steve was in the medbay, but now he was standing between himself and Shrapnel and pointing into the Insecticon's face.

“What do you think you're doing?!” Steve shouted. “You think I'm gonna stand by and let you hurt my friend?”

“ _Hardshell_ is the one who is hurt _hurt!!_ ” Shrapnel was shouting now too. “So why don't you you take your idiot friend who caused all this and scram before I crush you like the little cyberleeches you are _are!_ ”

“You can't talk to us like that!”

“What are you going to do about it, Vehicon _Vehicon?_ ”

“SHUT _UP_ BOTH OF YOU!!”

The arguing Vehicon and Insecticon flinched slightly and turned to look in the direction of the shout. AA-00 was standing in front of a partition they had just opened and glaring angrily at the pair.

“This is a medical bay, for Primus' sake! Plus, _some_ of us are trying to work. So keep it down!!” they shouted.

“Ah, um... Sir? Y-you really should be resting. That shot to your chassis did quite a bit of-”

“Cram it, WY-05. I have more important things to do than _heal._ And YOU!” They pointed to Steve. “You're still supposed to be in the mines. What do you think you're doing here?”

“Rodri- I mean, uh.. I came to check on RD-10 since-”

“He's _fine._ If you're not injured then get back to work! And that goes for you Insecticons too. I don't want to have to come back out here again.”

Rodrigo had long since stopped listening. Everybody was talking too loud and he couldn't focus. It didn't matter anyway; he wasn't interested in what anyone had to say. He only cared about getting to Hardshell. As they were distracted, he wiggled out of Steve's grip and tried to sidestep around Shrapnel. However, before he could manage it, AA-00 slammed the partition shut and the Insecticon spun back around, seizing Rodrigo by his throat and holding firm!

“You stay back _back!_ ” He spoke in a threatening hiss. “Don't make me do something you'll regret _regret._ ”

“Keep your filthy claws off him, _Insecticon!_ ” Steve spat out the word like an insult, though his voice was also noticeably quieter than before. A second later, Rodrigo felt a servo on his arm and saw Steve start trying to push Shrapnel away. “Let go. _Now_.”

“Why don't you make me _me?_ ”

Steve pulled at Rodrigo's arm as he pushed Shrapnel away and Shrapnel responded by tightening his grip, digging his claws into the wires of Rodrigo's neck. The pressure on his throat was unbearable and his shoulder plating was aching from Steve's pulling, apparently having forgotten his friend's earlier injuries. Steve was saying something again. What was it? Oh, it didn't even matter. Rodrigo's helm was throbbing in pain again, so he wouldn't be able to make it out. He shuttered his optics, hoping it would help with the pain, but all it did was make the loud, wordless noise feel more sharp oh and now Shrapnel was talking and his claws tightened and Steve just wouldn't let go and their voices felt _so_ loud oh Primus why wouldn't they both just _STOP!!_

It took a moment for him to process that it had gone quiet. And a moment longer to realize it was because he had said that last thought out loud.

Opening his optics again, he looked from the Insecticon glaring down at him to his friend, still grasping at his arm and looking worried... and he spoke again. “Please... please stop, you're hurting me!”

Before either of them could properly respond, a low, rumbling growl started up behind Shrapnel. Rodrigo recognized the sound immediately. “Hardshell!!”

Tearing away from the servos holding him back, Rodrigo darted past Shrapnel and half-ran half-stumbled over to the medical berth bearing the Insecticon. Thankfully, no one tried to stop him this time and he made it, collapsing to his knees next to the berth.

“Hardshell...” he repeated the name, reaching up his servos to touch the Insecticon. He stopped as his optics trailed over the dented, charred frame in front of him. Scorch marks covered up most of his distinctive scars, seared metal was visibly flaking off his plating... It looked so painful. Rodrigo's servos were still hovering over the Insecticon, wanting to touch, to comfort, but he couldn't. He would just make it worse by trying to help!

“I... I'm sorry.” He pulled his servos away to cover his own face. “Oh _Primus_ I'm so sorry, I can't... I-I-”

He felt a weight on his shoulder suddenly. “Rodrigo.” It was Wendy's voice. “It'll be alright, I promise!”

His servos were gently pulled down and for the first time he looked into Hardshell's face. The Insecticon didn't have the painful grimace that he expected to see, though. In fact, he looked rather content.

“His pain receptors are disabled.” Wendy continued. “The damage looks bad, but it's all external. He's gonna be fine... A-and Hardshell's a big 'Con, you know? So he'll bounce back in no time.”

Wendy had a good point. Hardshell was big and tough. Tough enough to withstand an explosion, even. If he had been a smaller mech he might not have. A smaller mech... like Rodrigo. His digits tensed, digging into the metal of the berth beneath them as that realization struck him. He would have died. If Hardshell hadn't taken the brunt of that blast- if he hadn't _saved_ him, he'd be dead.

Then Hardshell gingerly placed his claw on his servo. The Insecticon must have been thinking the same thing because his low voice rumbled, “I am glad you are alright.”

Rodrigo felt a sudden jolt of shame through his spark at the words. Back in the mine he had been trying to say that they could never speak to each other again! All because he was scared of what the other Vehicons would do. But Hardshell wasn't afraid. He wasn't even afraid to jump in front of an explosion for him!

He stared down at the massive claws covering his servos and feeling incredibly small in comparison. Rodrigo wasn't nearly as brave as Hardshell. But... he would have to be. Because he still had to finish that conversation. This time, though, it would be easier to find the right words.

“Hardshell...” Rodrigo closed his digits, grasping lightly at Hardshell's claws. “Remember how I was trying to say before in the mine... about nobody really wanting us to be friends?”

The Insecticon let out a quiet string of clicks which Rodrigo understood meant that he did.

“Yeah. Well, that... scares me. It really does. It scares me a lot.” squeezing the claws harder, he lowered his helm, pressing it against Hardshell's servo to hide his face. “I'm not as strong as you. Not in _any_ sense of the word. but... but I've realized that's okay. Because I have _you_.” Looking up again, Rodrigo met Hardshell's optics. “Even though I'm just a weak miner, I think I can fight back... As long as I have you there to back me up.”

He paused a moment to rub away the coolant threatening to spill from his optics. “S-so I don't care what everyone else thinks about me, because when I'm around you... everything is... it's... I-I just want to be with you. All the time. And if somebody's got a problem with us, they can get scrapped!” He said this last sentence forcefully, taking ahold of Hardshell's claws again.

Yes, this felt right. That was exactly what needed to be said. What a terrible, cowardly idea it had been to want to stop _this._ He was still nervous at the idea of the other Vehicons knowing about them, but as he was holding Hardshell's servo in his own, he figured it was all worth it. And Hardshell must have thought the same, because he leaned forward, almost touching his helm to Rodrigo's and let out a low rumbling growl that sounded vaguely of a laugh.

“If anyone has a problem with us,” he said and placed his claws on Rodrigo's helm protectively, “then I will _help_ them get scrapped.”

Rodrigo laughed as well, grabbing ahold of Hardshell's face and roughly nuzzling his forehelm against his, his smile beaming all the while. Whatever doubt might have been lingering in his processor, it was all washed away by hearing that affirmation from the Insecticon. For a full minute it stayed quiet, and Rodrigo kept his focus on the growling Insecticon pressing his helm against his own. It may as well have been just the two of them in the whole world for all he cared.

Unfortunately, he was snapped out of it by another voice speaking up.

“Rodrigo, you...” It was Steve. Rodrigo tensed slightly, waiting for him to continue with that judgmental tone of his. However, there was a long pause where he said nothing, and so Rodrigo looked back expectantly at his friend.

Steve was still standing beside Shrapnel and staring at Hardshell with his arms folded tight in front of his chassis. It didn't seem to be a stance of disapproval, though he did look vaguely uncomfortable. Once Rodrigo turned around, he met his optics. It took a moment longer before he continued. “You're really... That is... Hardshell is really important to you, isn't he?”

Rodrigo didn't hesitate at all in answering, “Yeah. He is.”

After letting out a slow, deliberate vent, Steve shrugged his shoulder plating and tilted his helm away. “Well, uh... I'm... _glad_... that you're happy.”

Wow! Rodrigo hadn't expected to hear that. Before he could speak up to tell Steve that meant a lot, he was interrupted by another voice. “Awww that's adorable!”

Kickback had stepped up behind Shrapnel, draping his arms over the other Insecticon's shoulder plating and grabbing ahold of Steve with this two insect arms to drag him closer. “So I guess we're all friends now! You know, I never thought you drones were all that bad. I'm Kickback, by the way. He's Shrapnel.”

Shrapnel offered a hiss-like growl to the Vehicon, who quickly pulled himself out of Kickback's grip to back away. Kickback, however, seemed to think this was hilarious. “Don't mind him!” he said when he'd finished laughing. “Just in a bad mood. He always was the jealous type.”

Steve, looking incredibly uncomfortable, seemed like he had something to say about this Insecticon acting so chummy all of a sudden, but he never got the chance. Not a moment after Kickback had finished his sentence, the partition on the far side of the room slammed open and AA-00 literally screamed, “I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO GET _OUT OF HERE!!!!_ ”

The frantic scramble that ensued as Steve and the Insecticons bolted for the exit was both comical and a little pathetic at the same time. It at least got Rodrigo's smile to return.

Once they were gone and the med bay door slid shut behind them, AA-00 looked over to Wendy. “WY-05, you're familiar with human technology, right?”

Caught somewhat off guard at being addressed so suddenly, Wendy started stammering, “Oh, um... y-yes. I mean, I-I've studied some of their- their culture and technology plays a-a big role in the development of th-”

“I don't want a fragging history lesson, just get over here!”

“Yes sir!” Wendy practically ran over to the partition and into the sectioned off room.

Just before they shut the door behind him, AA-00 held up a foreign looking, half-circle chip and gave it to Wendy. “What do you make of this? We pulled it out of K-” and then the door was shut, cutting off the conversation.

Rodrigo glanced around the now empty med bay one last time before returning his attention to Hardshell. The Insecticon clicked his mandibles gently, and then laid his helm back down on the berth. As he did, it suddenly hit Rodrigo how exhausted he was. All that excitement a moment ago even made him forget the pounding in his helm, but now it was back full force. It was starting to make his processor a bit dizzy. Hardshell must have noticed, because he began shuffling to the side, just enough to make room for one more frame on the berth.

Quickly taking the hint, Rodrigo climbed up next to the Insecticon and laid his aching helm down next to his. Once he had settled, Hardshell wrapped one massive arm around him and pulled his frame up against his own.

Lying there with Hardshell practically draped over him, it didn't even cross Rodrigo's processor to wonder what someone seeing this might think. All he cared about was feeling Hardshell close to him, being engulfed by his EM field as he snuggled up to the scarred plating above him. As he offlined his optics to rest, he briefly thought there was nowhere else he would rather be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's all over! I hope you enjoyed the ending. It's certainly not the last you will see of Rodrigo and Hardshell, though~


End file.
